Booking scam at Dudhsagar: Tour operators

Ponda: Alleging a scam of Rs 8 crore through the online booking portal for tourists during the last tourism season, the Dudhsagar Tour Operators’ Association (DTOA), has sought from the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC), a thorough probe in the affairs.
At its annual general body meeting held at Collem, the association sought action before the beginning of the new season.The new season of the waterfall begins on October 2. DTOA president Nilesh Velip said the service provider appointed by the GTDC for online booking of tourists, has credited Rs 34.3 lakh to the GTDC’s account instead of Rs 8 crore.
The association has also asked chief minister Pramod Sawant to stop online booking and allow conducting the old method of counter bookings. Due to GTDC’s presence as a service provider, the tourists had to pay Rs 257 extra since Jan this year, Velip said. The website was initially launched by the DTOA, however, the past committee handed it over to the GTDC, who later assigned the job to the service provider. The association has demanded that the site be handed over to them before the new season starts. DTOA is an organisation of the owners of the 431 jeeps permitted by the Goa Wildlife Board to ferry tourists to the Dudhsagar waterfall. The annual general meeting was attended by over 400 jeep owners.