Goa Travel News

Provide staff at Chicalim hospital soon
Times of India | 2 weeks ago
Times of India
2 weeks ago

Vasco: The sub-district hospital at Chicalim does not have a paediatric doctor, a radiologist nor a surgeon, and patients have to travel to Goa Medical College & Hospital (GMC) due to the shortage of medical staff, said an official from Goa First, an NGO. The upgraded hospital, previously known as the Chicalim Cottage Hospital, had been elevated to a sub-district hospital with new facilities after Rs52 crore was spent on health infrastructure a few years ago. Despite the upgrade in medical equipment and facilities, no medical or technical staff has been deployed to operate the equipment till date. Parshuram Sonurlekar of Goa First said, “This medical facility caters to three constituencies of Mormugao,Vasco and Dabolim. Despite this, there is no paediatric doctor, surgeon or a radiologist and patients have to rush 30km to GMC.” He added that the health minister should immediately deploy staff at the hospital. A source at the Chicalim hospital confirmed the absence of medical staff at the facility and added that while there was an assurance to deploy the staff within 15 days, this remains unfulfilled.

Provide staff at Chicalim hospital soon
As drinking on beaches gets out of hand, stakeholders want solution
Times of India | 1 month ago
Times of India
1 month ago

Calangute: Tourism stakeholders in the Calangute-Candolim belt are looking for a solution to the mess created on the beach by the hordes of drunken tourists who throng the area on long festive weekends, like the recent Holi holiday, buy cartons of alcoholic beverages and binge-drink on the shore. “They come to drink and then dump the empty beer and alcohol bottles on the sand. Many of these bottles get broken, which endangers the safety of other tourists. The worst is when they throw bottles into the water,” Ashwin Gad, a lifeguard, said. Although drinking in the open on the beach is prohibited, with signboards warning of fines, the few policemen present are helpless when thousands of tourists pour into the popular beach belt. “Instead of trying to stop them from drinking, which is impossible, there should be designated areas on the beach where they can sit and drink, with garbage bins where they can dump the empty bottles,” Gad suggested. “That way it will also become easier for us to keep a watch on inebriated tourists who go in the water.” General secretary of the Shack Owners Welfare Society, John Lobo, claimed that most tourists from neighbouring states cram into multi-utility vehicles and travel to Goa for the sole purpose of drinking and sleeping on the beach. “There should be a check on these vehicles at the state’s borders and only those who have booked accommodation should be allowed to enter,” he said. “They should also be charged Rs 300-400 to enter. This will help to control the situation to some extent,” he said. Others, however, said it’s too late to stop such types of budget tourists. “It becomes difficult for decent tourists who want to walk on the beach and visit beach shacks because of these unruly crowds. But how to stop these cheap tourists is the question,” Manuel Cardozo, president of the Traditional Shacks Owners Association, said.

As drinking on beaches gets out of hand, stakeholders want solution
Shack operators keep fingers crossed over new strain fears
Times of India | 5 months ago
Times of India
5 months ago

Colva: With many countries, including India, planning a review of international travel, shack owners are worried as the peak of the season is only a fortnight away. “We were hopeful that worst was behind us with the flattening of the Covid-19 graph, but with the new variant first detected in South Africa and soon after some other countries, including England reporting cases, this has not only dampened the excitement but it is also like a body blow,” said a shack owner. Since the beginning of the season early this month, shack owners were doing brisk business with plenty of domestic tourists visiting beaches and the shack owners were elated with the government of India opening up for foreign tourists. Edwin Barreto, a hotelier and shack owner in Cavelossim, said he has been receiving calls from his guests that they might not visit Goa due to the new Covid-19 variant Omicron. “So this season also seems to be bleak,” he said. Business during the last two seasons at shacks had suffered as they were permitted to open only late into the season and shutters had to be brought down much before the season could end due to a rise in cases in Goa along with the rest of the country. Shack opperator Malcolm Rodrigues said that he has not erected his shack this season but is of the opinion that the country cannot afford another lockdown because of the unemployment it creates. “The government should identify some hotels to quarantine international tourists for 5-6 days and charge a minimum fee, and as the tourists visit Goa for a fortnight, the visitors will have at least half their holiday to enjoy their vacation,” he said. President of the Shack Owners’ Welfare Society Cruz Cardozo said he that has also received calls from his Russian guests informing him of their uncertainty to travel to Goa. “We cannot help it, new entrants into the shack business will suffer terribly even though the government has waived 50% of the fees.” He also said that domestic tourists flocking to Goa in large numbers has helped them earn some revenue in this bleak period. Another shack owner simply had to say, “Keeping my fingers crossed and silently saying a prayer.”

Shack operators keep fingers crossed over new strain fears
Extend relaxation on vax gap for int’l students: Sawaikar
Times of India | 6 months ago
Times of India
6 months ago

Margao: Commissioner of NRI affairs Narendra Sawaikar on Friday wrote to Union minister for health and family welfare (MHFW) Mansukh Mandaviya seeking an extension on the relaxation granted on the time interval between two Covishield doses so as to facilitate international travel for educational and employment purposes. The MHWF SOP grants special dispensation for administration of the second dose of Covishield vaccine prior to the prescribed time interval — after 28 days, but before 84 days — to eligible persons intending to undertake international travel for educational purposes, for joining employment in foreign countries, etc. Sawaikar pointed out to Mandaviya in his letter that upon the expiry of the time limit of the SOP on October 31, a large number of eligible persons, particularly seafarers, are unable to undertake international travel. “Goa, like many other states of India, has a large diaspora and NRIs, which include seafarers. It has come to light that there was a time limit imposed in the MHFW SOP up to August 31, 2021, which was subsequently extended till October 31, 2021, but thereafter there has been no extension,” Sawaikar said. He urged Mandaviya to extend the validity of the MHFW SOP. The special dispensation SOP issued in June was available to three categories of people — students who have to undertake foreign travel for the purposes of education, persons who have to take up jobs in foreign countries, and athletes and accompanying staff of the Indian contingent attending the Olympic Games held in Tokyo in July-August. A competent authority was mandated to be designated by the state/UT governments in each district for according permission for such administration of the second dose of Covishield.

Extend relaxation on vax gap for int’l students: Sawaikar

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