Goa's 'beach vigil app' now open to public to report illegalities

Now it is open to the general public. A recent amendment to the law has empowered police to act under section 188 of IPC against illegalities.

The Goa tourism department on Thursday threw open its 'beach vigil app' to citizens to allow them to complain about illegalities along the coast.

State tourism minister Rohan Khaunte said the app, which has been developed by Goa Electronic Limited, will allow people to complain about unattended garbage as well as illegalities related to vending, hawking, massages, deck beds, touting etc.

''If the complaint is not addressed within a specified time, the app has a mechanism to forward it to a higher authority,'' Khaunte said.

Since its ''soft launch'' in July last, the app has been downloaded by 1,300 persons, who reported 1,240 violations, 1091 of which were addressed, he claimed.

''It was earlier only available for officials of various government agencies. Now it is open to the general public. A recent amendment to the law has empowered police to act under section 188 of IPC against illegalities. Police can arrest a person or collect fine on behalf of the tourism department,'' he said.