Rs 13 cr disbursed for e-toilets on Goa beaches: Minister

Panaji, Oct 27 (IANS) The state government’s ambition to make Goa defecation-free, is bound to aid more than four million tourists who visit the state’s beaches, most of which are not equipped with toilets, according to tourism minister Dilip Parulekar.

Speaking to IANS on Wednesday, Parulekar said that his ministry was in the process of spending Rs 13 crore to setup e-toilets across the 105 km long coastline, on nearly every popular beach.

"We have already issued a work order for construction of e-toilets, which will help to keep our beaches clean and work as an important facility for tourists coming to Goa for the state’s beaches," Parulekar said.

"Each e-toilet cluster on the beaches would be built on an integrated mini-sewage treatment plant, which would ensure that the beaches stay clean," he said.

"We are in the process of building world-class infrastructure on our beaches. We have already installed some of the e-toilets on Miramar, Baga and Calangute beaches," Parulekar added.

Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar announced earlier this week, that the state would be 100 per cent defecation-free by the end of 2017 and added that the government was in the process of identifying sites for construction of community toilets.

Goa, one of the most popular beach tourism destinations in the country, attracts about four million tourists every year. Of these half a million are foreigners.