Goa Tourism Minister confirms efforts to reach a solution to clean beaches

Goa Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar Thursday said a solution would be worked out within a "day or two" after a contract with a private agency to clean beaches in the state expired on November 12.

Lakhs of tourists arrived in the state during Diwali vacations and the international tourist season had also begun, officials said. "Within a day or two, a solution will be worked out. To begin with, we will first take up cleaning of the important beaches where footfalls are more," Ajgaonkar said.

The private agency, Drishti Services, was given the contract to clean Goa's beaches by the state government on an emergency basis in December 2016 and it got the first formal work order in this connection in May last year, a spokesperson for the firm said Thursday.

Goa has a 105-kilometre long coastline which is visited by more than 60 lakh tourists annually.