Goa Police have arrested a Delhi tourist for driving an SUV on Anjuna beach, Goa, and endangering the life of others. A bunch of videos of the incident have gone viral; in some clips, the vehicle involved can be seen being driven around the beach recklessly, while in other clips, we see it stuck badly on the beach, partly drowned by the waves.
Driving on the beaches of Goa is illegal, and for good reason. It is easy for vehicles to get stuck in the sand, especially if it is not a 4×4 vehicle, and it is also easy to lose control and hit others when driving on such a loose surface. Thankfully, nobody was hurt during the incident, although the vehicle took a lot of battering from the waves.
In the video below, we see the occupants of the vehicle panicking after it gets stuck on the beach. One of them stands on a nearby rock, while the other tries to pull it out of the water while signalling other people for help. As per reports, the vehicle was safely pulled out of the mud later.
Deputy Superintendent of Police, Jivba Dalvi, has identified the accused as Lalit Kumar Dayal. An FIR under sections 279 and 336 of the IPC has been filed against him. The vehicle involved was a Hyundai Creta, which was registered locally in Goa. While an extremely popular car, Hyundai Creta is not a 4×4 vehicle, and thus it is not a great companion for driving off the road.
It should be noted that driving on such tricky surfaces is difficult for even experts in properly-prepped vehicles. For novice drivers in regular cars, this is a recipe for disaster. Also, drowning a vehicle in a water body is extremely damaging to the environment, as oil leaks harm the wildlife. The saline sea water can cause damage to the vehicle too.
It is extremely concerning to see Indian tourists with such reckless abandon. Many people have been arrested in Goa for driving on the beaches in the past. Interestingly, it seems like people put too much faith in their vehicles and then pay a heavy price! Recently, a bunch of tourists had to be rescued by the Indian Army in Jammu & Kashmir, after they drove a Maruti Gypsy into Sindh river and got stranded.
