Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Goa’s tourism resurges post-COVID lockdown, and so does litter on beaches

 Navhind Times, March 22, 2022

Indo-Asian News Service

Panaji

The post COVID resurgence of tourism in Goa, one of the best known beach destinations in India, has brought a sigh of relief to the state’s tourism industry stakeholders.

But a recent study conducted by multiple research agencies, has outlined just how the lifting of travel restrictions and resumption of mass tourism has led to copious quantities of garbage being dumped back on to the beaches and the seas alongside, with the increased footprint of locals as well as tourists on the state’s eight popular beaches post lockdown.

“The quantification of litter found on eight selected Goa beaches (Morjim, Calangute, Miramar, Siridao, Baina, Velsao, Colva and Palolem) was undertaken during the beginning of lockdown (May 2020) and unlock (January 2021) periods suggests an increase in the litter quantity during unlock period when the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions on tourism are lifted, facilitating tourist inflow,” the researchers noted.

The study was conducted under the supervision of Goa University’s School of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences by researchers from the Goa-based National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula and Canada’s Ryerson University.

According to the research study titled “Spatio-temporal assessment of Covid-19 lockdown impact on beach litter status and composition in Goa”, India’ littering on beaches increased as much as 1032.60 percent at Palolem beach, a popular location with tourists as well as the local population.

 “Per capita litter reduction during the lockdown in comparison to the post-lockdown period was found to be highest for Palolem (1032.60%).

https://www.navhindtimes.in/2022/03/21/goanews/goas-tourism-resurges-post-covid-lockdown-and-so-does-litter-on-beaches/


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