Man drives Toyota Innova Crysta onto Goa’s Morjim beach: Tourism department asks cops to file FIR

We have come across several incidents where people have got into trouble for driving on beach. It looks like people are not learning those incidents and are repeating these acts. It looks like, driving a vehicle on beach has become a trend among tourists and this time around, we have a report from Goa’s Morjim beach where an individual drove a Toyota Innova Crysta MPV onto the beach. The image of the person with the Innova Crysta on the beach are circulating on the internet and Goa’s tourism department also came across the same. The department has now asked police to file an FIR against the person who drove the car onto the beach.

The main reason why tourism department has directed Pernem Police Station to file an FIR against the unidentified vehicle is because the Morjim beach where the person drove the Innova Crysta is a known Olive Ridely turtle nesting site. The government has banned any kind of activities on the beach that can disturb the turtles. It looks like the Innova Crysta driver drove the MPV on the beach and got stuck in sand. The image shows three individuals standing next to a Goa registered Innova Crysta MPV. As we all know, driving a 2WD vehicle on beach sand is quite risky and the chances of getting the vehicle stuck are pretty high.

Also read: Toyota Innova Crysta base variant modified to look & feel like a higher variant (Video)

The reports mention that the vehicle was too close to the high tide line. The tourism department of Goa has declared that driving on beaches is a nuisance and such activities are likely to damage the tourism potential of the beaches. This is not the first time, something like this has happened in Goa. We have come across several incidents where tourists have recklessly driven their vehicles on the beaches and got stuck in sand.

Deputy Director for Tourism Dhiraj Vagle said, “One unauthorized vehicle bearing registration No GA 03 Z 8474 was found to be recklessly and illegally driving at Morjim beach stretch.” Vagle has asked police to file an FIR against the offenders (owner and driver of the vehicle). They have been charged under the section 188 of IPC. Along with criminal proceedings, the offenders will also have to pay fine of Rs 5,000 which is extendible upto Rs 50,000.

Goa has a tourist places protection and maintenance act and under this act, the department has prohibited number of activities like cooking of food in open spaces, begging, driving on beach, drinking in public, massages and unauthorized hawkers and so on. Last month another unidentified individual drove his Land Rover Defender SUV on Arossim beach in Goa. He was not only driving rashly but, he deliberately drove into a flock of migratory birds and killed couple of them.

Driving on beaches is strictly prohibited in Goa and many other states. But, it looks like people never listen. If you drive a car on loose sand, you would definitely get stuck and would require help from other vehicles or locals to get out. If you really want to drive a car on a beach, you can head to Muzhappilangad beach in Kerala’s Kannur district. This is the only place in the country, where you can legally drive a car on beach.

Also read: 10 DC Design cars & how they look in the REAL world: Maruti Swift to Mahindra XUV500

Image source: In Goa 24×7