India's longtime holiday destination of Goa looks set to lose its tag as a free-loving, hippy raver paradise, with the state's government putting a ban on dance bars.
The state has progressively tightened controls on nightclubs and outdoor parties over the last few years after a series of high-profile crimes including the rape and murder of a British teenager in 2008.
"Dance bars will not be allowed in Goa. There has been a lot of image-beating for the state due to the existence of drugs and prostitution on the beaches. We will clean it up," announced Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar last week.
Parrikar has made cleaning up Goa's palm tree-lined beaches a priority to make them more family-friendly, with his administration initiating a string of measures to safeguard foreign tourists including ordering police to remain present on the beaches until midnight. Previously police would withdraw after sunset.
Goa has long been a laid-back, hippy beach destination well known for drugs and dance music, attracting 2.3 million foreign and domestic visitors annually.