Goa Bans Water Sports, Swimming on Beaches for Monsoon

Ahead of the coming monsoon, the Goa government banned water sports along the state's 105-km coastline on Friday, June 1, 2012. It also cautioned tourists and local residents against swimming in the sea, which gets churned dangerously by the lashing monsoon winds.

"The permission granted by the Captain of Ports for plying off water sports vessels within the state of Goa has come to an end. Therefore, all the water sports operators plying their vessels within the state of Goa are hereby directed to stop their operations immediately," a state government directive said.

The statement, issued by the state information and publicity department, also said that water sports operators, who continue with popular water sports operations like jet skiing, speed boating, banana boating, para-sailing and the like, would be banned from water sports-related activity.

"The vessel shall be confiscated and auctioned," the statement said, adding that the directives were issued because "during the monsoon, the sea is rough and hence dangerous for swimming."

"All tourists as well as the general public are therefore hereby cautioned not to venture into the sea so as to avoid untoward incidents which may include death due to drowning," it further said.

According to figures released by the Goa government, nearly 2.7 million tourists arrived in Goa during the October 2011–March 2012 season, out of which nearly half a million were foreigners.