PANAJI/SANGUEM
Thousands of tourists and locals had a harrowing time after Goa police and the Forest Department officials stopped them from entering the picturesque Dudhsagar waterfalls on Sunday.
The government last week banned people from visiting waterfalls in the State after two persons drowned at Mainapi waterfall in Sanguem taluka.
Thousands of trekkers -- primarily from Karnataka and Maharashtra apart from locals -- were seen stranded on the railway track after they were stopped by the men-in-uniform from moving towards the waterfalls.
Hundreds of visitors then tried to walk along the tracks of the South Western Railway line to reach Dudhsagar but were also advised by the police not to go ahead.
As the crowd swelled at the site, additional police force was requisitioned from neighbouring police stations including Londa and Vasco.
After being denied the entry to the waterfall, the tourists including ladies had to spend considerable time at the Collem Railway Station waiting for the train back home.
Following the incident, the South Western Railway released a tweet urging people not to walk along the tracks.
“We urge you to savour the beauty of Dudhsagar Falls from within your coach. Walking on/along tracks not only endangers your own safety, but is also an offence under sections 147, 159 of Railway Act. It can also endanger safety of trains,” the South Western Railway tweeted.
Alighting at Dudhsagar or any other station along the Braganza Ghat is prohibited, it stated, requesting passengers to cooperate and follow the rules laid down for their safety.
Expressing resentment, tourists slammed the authorities saying before resorting to any sudden decisions, appropriate information should have been conveyed and passed to the neighbouring States.
Many of them said they come down to Goa after considering the safety and the atmosphere surrounding Goa. They also questioned the logic to ban entry to the waterfalls.
“Just because there are accidents on roads or for that matter when trains meet with accidents, do authorities close all the roads or all the tracks”, a tourist asked. In such cases more precautions are adopted to curtail the happenings of such incidents in the future, he said.
"The government should have regulated the flow of tourists. Imposing a total ban on visitors at the waterfalls does not serve any purpose," said another tourist.
Dudhsagar waterfall is located on Goa-Karnataka border and the road through the forest has been closed as rivers are in spate.
