In a novel Swachh Bharat, Nitol Goem (Clean India, Clean Goa) initiative that has won the admiration of locals, a group of foreign tourists from Canada and England cleaned up the Mandrem beach on Wednesday.
PERNEM
With garbage strewn all over Mandrem beach and authorities concerned turning a blind eye, a group of foreign tourists took the initiative and cleaned the Mandrem beach.
During their beach cleanliness drive, the tourists, Rebecca Anbrist, Abam Carroll, Rowan Bellal, Simon Hallworth, Ron Kitchen, Kim Eddie and Campbell Thomas, collected bags of garbage from various parts of the beach.
Briefing media persons on their beach cleaning initiative, a tourist, Rebecca Anbrist said the Mandrem beach is cool and beautiful, which has attracted many tourists to the destination.
“However, the beauty of the beach is vanishing and garbage strewn all over the place has spoilt this beauty of the beach. Hence, we tourists decided to come forward and undertake the beach cleaning campaign,” she said.
Anbrist informed that their cleanliness drive is not restricted to Mandrem beach alone.
“Piles of garbage are also lying at Ashvem beach, due to which there are fewer tourists in that area. We clean garbage everyday, put it in bags and hand them over to the local contractor, who has taken the beach cleaning contract from the government,” informed Anbrist.
“We started cleaning garbage from October and we will continue till the end of tourist season. We would like the Goa government to look into this matter and clean the beaches everyday,” urged Rebecca.
A large number of foreign tourists visit Pernem’s coastline during the tourism season. Some of them not only enjoy their vacation, but are also involved in social service.
“Many foreign tourists donate books, clothing and money for education to the poor and needy children. They also preserve the environment, thereby showing their love for our place and we are proud of these tourists,” acknowledged a local from Mandrem.
