PANAJI, Sept 18: Goa's Tourism Department is looking at alternative sites to host the annual food festival in December following opposition from the environmentalists' lobby. Tourism Director Ulhas Kamat told Express Newsline that his department may not hold the food festival on the beaches of Miramar like in earlier years.The five-day-long festival, which was started about 10 years ago, is held in the middle of the tourist season in the centre of Goa's capital. A major tourist attraction, it draws about two lakh visitors, including 50,000 foreigners every year, according to the Tourism Department.However, local residents and environmentalists paint a dismal picture of the festival and have resolved to thwart the gastronomic event at all costs. In a letter to a local newspaper, a hotelier, Ryan A Semalheo, claimed that hygiene is given the go-by. ``To keep up with the demand, half-cooked food is served,'' he wrote.Citizens living near Miramar's beaches have formed an organisation, People'sMovement for Civic Action, to oppose the festival and has collected about 600 signatures to petition the the government to shift the festival's venue.However, the biggest blow has been dealt by the Goa Environment Foundation, an umbrella organisation of various non-governmental bodies in the state. In its `public hearings' on the issue, the organisation focused on environmental hazards of such festivals being held on beaches. ``These activities must be held on private property like hotels and not in public areas like beaches,'' says Roland Martins, says the foundation's spokesperson. The activists have also been criticising the participation of liquor companies and the open sale of alcohol during the five days of revelry.Meanwhile, the festival's supporters point out that it is the only way tourists can be attracted to the hinterland since tourism in the state is at present exclusively the preserve of sea-front areas. Even for residents of Panaji, who have few opportunities for entertainment, thefestival is a welcome diversion. Of course, with a major clean-up exercise that follows the morning after.
