With the tourist season picking up, various shacks are being set up at Benaulim Beach but many amongst them have encroached upon large tracts of sand in contravention of licencing agreements which is not only patently illegal but is also a huge inconvenience for daily walkers/joggers especially during high tide.
Many shacks have surreptitiously built seating berms using sand from the coast itself. As it is, the beach is run over by umbrellas, deck beds, signboards, cattle, dogs, lamanis and what not and the unauthorised seating adds to the clutter.
Also social distancing norms prescribed for COVID are flouted by the shack operators who pack in tables cheek by jowl to accommodate the maximum number of diners. The tourist police deployed at beaches should be empowered to remove such seating and also penalise the restaurant operators, we need to reclaim the beach from these mammon worshippers.