Even as the neighbouring Goa has banned any such nuisance at the beaches there, the beach in Karwar paints a sickening picture.
In Karwar, (unsuspecting) tourists get up early in the morning, grab their beachwear and rush to the beach to get a glimpse of the nature’s beauty and inhale pure, fresh air. Instead, they get a repulsive smell and disgusting glimpse of local dwellers squatting there to empty their bowels, while the rest of the beach is already punctuated with human excreta.
Incidentally, the beach is named after Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Even as the neighbouring Goa has banned any such nuisance at the beaches there, the beach in Karwar paints a sickening picture.
“There appears to be a very poor public awareness among the people in Karwar, which is what we are trying to highlight,” civic chief of Karwar, Ganapathy Uluvekar, told DNA. He said the Karwar beach was more beautiful and well connected than many Goa beaches but had become a bane because of open defecation.
Former chief minister of Goa, Alemao Churchill, too had admitted that Karwar beach had the potential to be a world-class tourist spot, “but…” He had stopped at that, perhaps not wanting to mention the loathsome truth.
Former deputy commissioner of Uttara Kannada, Nilaya Mitash, had in 2002 started a drive to save Karwar beaches from the offensive habit of the locals. There were instances where those found defecating in open landed up in trouble with the law. Even Karwar police had started an early-morning beat but did not continue it.
Karwar MLA Anand Asnotikar said the authorities had tried many times to stop this repugnant practice but nothing could deter the offenders. He said the Total Sanitation Campaign would be started again in the area, wherein the government ensures that every house in the locality has a toilet. He said success of the campaign might save the beaches.
MP of Uttara Kannada, Ananth Kumar Hegde, told DNA that he had advised the Karwar municipality not to build toilets on the beaches.
He said toilets should be built in the houses of the poor people with water facility. Hegde said central funds were available for such campaigns and he would press the Union urban development ministry to issue funds to build toilets for all the BPL families in Karwar and Uttara Kannada.
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