Littering is inbuilt in Indian tourists, says Calangute MLA

Calangute: The habit of littering a place is inbuilt in Indian tourists, Calangute MLA Michael Lobo said during a beach clean-up drive at Baga on Saturday. “This beach is being littered on a daily basis, mostly by Indian tourists. When the same tourists go to Singapore or Dubai, they will not throw even a tissue anywhere; they will put it in a garbage bin. But here, they will litter. You can see so much waste thrown here,” he told reporters.

Lobo said domestic tourists should emulate the example set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The PM walked with a garbage bag, wearing gloves to clean up a beach in Lakshadweep. He’d said let us clean up all the beaches of India. He launched the Swachh Bharat movement to keep India clean and make it prosperous. We have to keep our surroundings clean. Only then will India progress,” he said.

The beach clean-up drive was held as part of the Coastal Clean-up Week that starts on Monday. Lobo urged school students from Mapusa who took part in the drive to post videos and photos of it on social media platforms and also send them to the PM. “These videos and pictures should reach the PM to send the message that you are his ambassadors in the Swachh Bharat movement and to send the message to tourists across India to keep our beaches clean,” he said.

“Tourists will stop coming to this beach if we don’t keep it clean,” Lobo said, pointing out that clean beaches lead to jobs and revenue for the tourism industry in Goa.