As monsoon nears, Goa asks tourists not to venture into sea

With the monsoon expected to arrive in Goa soon, the state government today issued an advisory asking tourists to refrain from swimming in sea waters along the beaches for four months starting tomorrow.

The tourism department issued a circular asking all shack owners to dismantle their structures on the beaches.

It also asked the private lifeguard agency, which has been manning the state's beaches, to put up signboards marking the waters as 'no swimming' zones.

The department has formed squads to ensure that shacks are removed from the beaches and signboards are installed to warn tourists against venturing in the Arabian Sea.

The last chartered flight carrying international visitors to Moscow in Russia had flown out of Goa about a fortnight back, thus formally culminating the international tourist season in the state.

According to the tourism department's figures, around 7.7 million tourists both domestic and international