Mechanised cleaning of Goa’s Beaches

Goa’s world renowned beaches that attract millions of tourists from around the world will now be cleaned by machines, according to a statement by Tourism minister Dileep Parulekar. 

Once considered pristine, Goa’s beaches are now filled with litter and hence massive mechanised cleaning machines will be put into service to clean Goa’s beaches. The advantages are huge – these specially designed machines are able to clean the beaches faster and more thoroughly than manual cleaning. These machines are not only able to clean larger rubbish such as plastic bags but are also able to suck in smaller pieces of garbage such as cigarette butts. 

While there are many advantages of such cleaning machines, environmentalists fear that the mechanised cleaning of Goa’s beaches could harm the animal life in the sand. Goa’s beaches are home to hordes of tiny sand crabs, which live in the porous sand pockets and environmentalists fear that these crabs that run about on the beach could also be picked up by these large machines. 

Another side effect of these beach cleaning machines is the loss of livelihood for the hundreds of manual beach cleaners who have been employed in the past. Unfortunately, neither the local newspapers nor the Tourism Minister has focussed on this aspect. Often, these beach cleaning personnel are the only breadwinners in the family and this sudden loss of income will definitely have a negative aspect on their ability to survive. It is a shame that in a country of over one billion, India and Goa have to resort to machines replacing people. While the concept of replacing people with machines has been popular in the west where labour is expensive, replacing people with machines seems rather absurd in India and Goa where there is an excess of cheap labour. 

The use of machines to clean up Goa’s beaches also goes to show that the tourists who come to Goa are not conscious enough of their surroundings to take their garbage with them. After smoking their cigarettes, tourists simply stub them out in the sand and leave them there. The same problem is with plastic chip packets and tetra pack juice packets. It is common to see vendors selling throwaway packets of chips and juice at the entrace to the Calangute / Baga beach. The tourists that purchase these packets simply throw them in the sand when they are empty.

While it is admirable that the Goa Tourism Department is making an effort to clean up Goa’s beaches, a concerted effort is required to educate tourists about the importance of not littering and keeping Goa’s beaches clean. Another effective measure is definitely the introducing of more garbage bins on the beach. The last time I walked along the Calangute – Baga beach stretch, I couldn’t find a single garbage bin in which to throw my rubbish.