Goa counts cost of Covid as India's party hotspot hits pause
14 Jan, 2021 11:40 PM
5 minutes to read
Jewellery Hawker, Seema Rajgarh cannot find any custom on Goa's empty beaches. Photo / Vineeta Deepak, AP
Jewellery Hawker, Seema Rajgarh cannot find any custom on Goa's empty beaches. Photo / Vineeta Deepak, AP
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By: Vineeta Deepak
The sun's golden rays fall on Goa's smooth, sandy beaches every evening, magical as ever but strangely quiet and lonely. This holiday season, few visitors are enjoying the celebrated sunsets in the Indian party hotspot.
The unspoken fear of the coronavirus is sapping Goa's vibrant beach shacks and noisy bars of their lifeblood.
COVID-19: Indian partying hotspot Goa counts losses, braces for change
The unspoken fear of the coronavirus is sapping Goa’s vibrant beach shacks and noisy bars of their lifeblood.
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One of the shut down bars near the Candolim beach on the Arabian Sea coast in Goa, India, Dec.11, 2020. (Photo | AP) By Associated Press
GOA: The sun’s golden rays fall on Goa’s smooth, sandy beaches every evening, magical as ever but strangely quiet and lonely. This holiday season, few visitors are enjoying the celebrated sunsets in the Indian party hotspot.
The unspoken fear of the coronavirus is sapping Goa’s vibrant beach shacks and noisy bars of their lifeblood.
Vineeta Deepak
Seema Rajgarh, 37, hawks jewelry made of beads and stones on nearly deserted Utorda beach in South Goa, India,, Dec.16, 2020. On good days during the holiday season, the mother of three girls, the youngest not yet two years old, said she used to make 2,000 rupees ( $27). Now, times are bleak. "Some days, I make barely 200 rupees ($2.7), not enough to even buy milk and food for my children," she said. "This virus has devastated our lives," Rajgarh said. Goans are mourning the loss of their livelihoods and possibly their way of life to the pandemic and travel restrictions. (AP Photo/Vineeta Deepak)
Indian partying hotspot Goa counts losses, braces for pandemic-fuelled change
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Last Updated: Jan 13, 2021, 12:03 PM IST
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Synopsis
A Portuguese colony until 1961, this western Indian state usually comes alive in December and January, its tourism-led economy booming with foreign travelers and chartered flights bringing in hordes of vacationers.
AP
GOA: The sun's golden rays fall on Goa's smooth, sandy beaches every evening, magical as ever but strangely quiet and lonely. This holiday season, few visitors are enjoying the celebrated sunsets in the Indian party hotspot. The unspoken fear of the coronavirus is sapping Goa's vibrant beach shacks and noisy bars of their lifeblood.