BEST Solution to STOP Ocean Clean Up is to Provide More Garbage Bins on City Beaches
Mangaluru: As mentioned in an English daily recently, as per a beach tourism promoter, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts have about 150 beachside, and with tourism season-opening, beachside accommodations are in good demand, say stakeholders. The beach-side accommodations have been booked till the end of October. As they are full, some tourists are opting to stay in lodges. But many tourists prefer beach-side accommodations. Of the guests, about 80% are IT professionals, hailing from different states, coming from Bengaluru. Tourists are also pouring in from Pune, Delhi and Mumbai. Some of the tourists prefer to visit temples. As beach-side accommodations are in good demand, especially on the weekends, the twin districts require another 500 beach-side homestays and guest houses and many tourists are arriving in their vehicles” said the promoter.
Apart from that, the President of the Association of Lodges, Dakshina Kannada, had said that as the mid-term Dasara holiday for schools has also begun, lodges are also in good demand. Dakshina Kannada had about 107 lodges with 2,500 rooms. The bookings at lodges are good, and a tourist visiting Mangaluru spends at least Rs 2,000 per head. The tourists visit Mangaluru and other parts of Dakshina Kannada not only to visit beaches and temples. Many arrive for medical treatment and education-related matters. Parents make use of their tour to visit reputed educational institutes, including the paramedical ones, to evaluate them before admitting their children”
Wow, well said by both these persons, but in reality how CLEAN are our BEACHES, How PROMPTLY are they MAINTAINED, What MODERN facilities are being PROVIDED; among others? Every year on World Tourism Day, prominent Netas or DC or other big authorities from District Administration come and give BIG talks during a programme arranged to mark that day, promising that the Beach will be upgraded to International standards, with better facilities and infrastructure, but all those talks are nothing but fooling the public. Seems like their promises are like “We Don’t Practice What We Preach”- and I mean it since I have attended a bunch of these WTD programmes in the past. For that matter, Panambur Beach has remained the same except for a New Entrance sign, good enough for visitors to click a photo, other than that the beach is still filthy and food stalls selling unhygienic food, posing a health risk.
But do any authorities at the beach development department care, I don’t think so. This report is for the kind consideration of the new management ‘KADALI BEACH TOURISM’ under the helm of M/s Bhandary Builders, Mangaluru, which is handling the beach maintenance and activities etc, and see that the beach is maintained regularly. My visit to the Panambur beach on Monday, made me highlight some of the issues which could be rectified by the concerned people so that the tourists, including nationals and foreigners, won’t be disappointed with the pathetic condition of the beachside tourism standards. They should see that the beachside stalls that serve food/drinks are hygienic and maintain safe health standards.
The earlier Deputy Commissioner during one of his visits to the Panambur beach had shut down these stalls for unhygienic conditions and filth around the stalls, but once they were back into business there has been not much of a difference seen at these stalls. Also, it would be nice if more garbage bins were kept along the beach side so that the beach is not littered with waste, which eventually lands into the sea, adding more waste for the next Ocean/Sea clean. Providing 4-5 garbage bins for the entire beach will not serve the purpose, when we see a large crowd, especially during the weekends storming the beach. Someone should have used a slight common sense about adding this facility, unfortunately, they never did.
Look at the Goa beaches, they have plenty of waste bins along the beach side, and a jeep goes around with a maintenance crew and empty the waste bins now and then, unlike at Panambur Beach, forget about having waste Bins, the piled up or scattered waste is cleaned the next day. Does not match any International beach standards.
Apart from not having enough waste bins, we also have cows and dogs roaming or squatting on the beach, and visitors have to watch when they walk, they could step on cow-dung or dog poop seen at many places ( See the pics here). The authorities should also realize that not every person are animal lover, many are scared of dogs and cows, and how could they allow such animals to roam around on a beach where all kinds of people visit animal lovers to non-animal lovers? There are even bulls walking down the path leading to the beach, which brings fear among the visitors. Have all these issues been noticed by the present tourism management?
Our beaches have remained the same for years, with only a little bit of infrastructure changes, other than that everything is ZERO! Every year, now and then, monthly or once in a few months, we see or hear about beachside cleaning or Ocean Clean Up projects organized by Coast Guard personnel, Social organizations, and College and school students, among others volunteering in community service to make our beaches look neat and environmentally friendly. But once the cleanup is done on that day, the garbage is piled up again on the following day and this has been a routine happening for years. Such kind of cleanup drives are nothing but a one-day activity, and more of a PUBLICITY STUNT- however, unless and until the Tourism Department authorities enforce strict laws and punish those who litter, Panambur Beach or for that matter, other local beaches, will remain filthy day by day. We have seen it in the past and will see it again-totally a sad affair!
Another reason for visitors littering on the beach is the lack of garbage bins provided- you can hardly see any garbage bins along the beach, other than 4-5 bins kept at one corner of the beach. And the main culprits are the illegal food stalls who operate their eatery/drinks stalls but don’t provide garbage bins- or they will keep a tiny bucket to dispose of waste, for the use of hundreds of people visiting their stalls? If the Panambur Beach looked clean a few hours after the cleanup in the morning, but late afternoon and evening the beach will see garbage scattered everywhere. And if not for the rag pickers who go around and pick up plastic and cardboard waste, for their living, the beach area would have been much worse.
Hope this report will enlighten the concerned people managing the beach tourism in Kudla/Mangaluru/Mangalapuram/Kodiyal and rectify the issues, bring a change and make a difference. Until Team Mangalorean makes yet another visit to the Panambur beach, shortly, let’s keep our fingers crossed for some better changes and cleanliness on Panambur or other City beaches. Thank You!
