SURLA: Nearly 80km from Panaji , in a small hamlet of 500 people nestled in the dense forest on Goa’s northern-most border, every few metres, hung on houses and trees are posters in English: ‘Don’t Drink and Drive, No Smoking, Please Don’t Pee Here’. It is this pristine environ of Surla that has become its bane. Tourists from bordering Karnataka can just hop across to purchase alcohol at a much cheaper rate than their home state. And Surla’s pristine seasonal waterfalls have inevitably become the hub for their drunken picnics.After objections from villagers to the obscene picnicking, the North Goa district collector finally stepped in, making Surla the first village in Goa where bars are banned from operating for the next 30 days.On Friday—the first day of the ban—group after group of men arrive on bikes, in luxury cars and in SUVs, but are left puzzled to find all the eight bars shut. After desperate enquiries across Surla, they make their way out.“For the first time in eight years, when a connecting road from the highway opened up the village to tourists, we in Surla are finally looking forward to a peaceful weekend,” said Rama Gaonkar, a farmer who also runs a general store for the settlement.“The men would urinate in front of children on their way back from school. They would stand on the roads and drink and break the bottles in the adjoining fields. We have a population of around 500 and we would have another 500 visitors coming in on a weekend. The situation went out of control,” said Gaonkar.In the monsoon, the temperature drops considerably in Surla, owing to its location and this is the season for gushing waterfalls that sees July and August attract the most crowds. Three years ago, forest department erected a post to the entry point that offers a panoramic view of one of the more scenic waterfalls on Chorla Ghat.“On a week day, we are four forest personnel posted here. On Saturday and Sunday during the monsoon season, at least 10 of us are posted here, besides a police van to control the tourists. The entry to the point is open from 9am to 5pm. But these groups of men insist on staying on post-5pm or on entering with alcohol, which leads to arguments,” said a forest guard at the post. He says that only 5% of visitors to the point are Goans.The forest personnel show a broken window pane damaged by tourists in a fit of rage at being denied entry.On Friday, the village saw a talathi arrive early in the morning with a notice for the bar owners on the ban for the next 30 days. Later, at 11am, an excise inspector did the rounds warning bar owners against violating the collector’s order.Paresh Shrikant Gaonkar, who operates a bar in the village since 1995, said, “My establishment is a bar-cum-restaurant. They have made me shut my restaurant as well. Why can’t more police personnel be pressed into service to control the tourists instead. July and August are the peak season for me to earn good profits.”For most of the other villagers though, the ban on bars from operating in Surla is a prayer that has finally been answered.“In 1986, the first bar in the village opened. In the last decade, the number has gone up to eight for a village of 350 adults on the electoral rolls, most of whom are teetotallers. Another six bars are waiting for permission to operate. Our women are already living in fear. They do not allow children to play outside after school. At least for next 30 days, our women and children can live freely,” said a villager.

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