One can hardly blame residents of Ribandar for blowing the war bulge over an offshore casino that has been anchored close to the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary. Like everyone else they have fears of the repercussions. They are justifiably worried that the present location might be made permanent. They are worried that a new jetty will be constructed. They are worried that the presence of the casino will draw a fleet of taxis which will be parked on the road, every day and night. They are suspicious that prostitution could follow and that the drug mafia will gradually spread its tentacles into their tranquil village.
Not all these fears are well grounded, but they are fears and these fears are based on the turn that tourism has taken in Baga and Calangute and elsewhere. While Goa is presented as an oasis of entertainment to the rest of the country and the world, there is a deep-seated fear that the real reason behind the quantum growth in arrivals is cheap booze, narcotics, prostitution and gambling. And this is not good for the future of tourism or Goa, in general.
Casinos have been providing Goa with over Rs 150 crore in direct revenue. The industry, if it can be called one, has generated jobs for locals and youth from outside. It has an eco-system of its own and without them a lot of hotels in Panaji would have to shut shop. Governments past and present have provided casinos with support and protection. Casinos have also been arm twisted and milked by vested interests. But it is the lure of high profits that keeps casino owners in the business and given a chance, they would love to expand and grow.
The unwritten rule in this business is that the number of casinos anchored in the Mandovi should not exceed five. Casino owners found a way of getting round this rule by growing vertically. Older and smaller ships are replaced with larger ones and though the number remains the same, it is the number of tables that always goes up.
It is over two decades since Goa adopted gambling as a way of growing the tourism industry. A shut down is next to impossible because a large investment is at stake and several thousand jobs could be lost in casinos as well as hotels. But casinos continue to remain in the news because Goa has still not reconciled with the idea of using gambling to draw tourists. It does not fit well into the Goan ethos, or by now casinos would have been accepted as part of the landscape.
Government policy on casinos is ambiguous. On the one hand it supports casinos but ensures that the cap of five is maintained on account of the opposition to gambling. This cap could have been reduced to four if the government had refused to transfer the licence from an older vessel to a newer one without hurting investments or reducing jobs. Instead, it caved in to the casino lobby and allowed transfer of licence. Goa and the Mandovi river would have been better off with one less casino, but thanks to the inability of the government to say ‘no’ the state has to now put up with a bigger ship.
