The Mormugao Port Trust has maintained that any structure within the port's limits would require a NOC from them, and this does not exclusively apply to shacks. The statement comes at the back of a raging controversy where MPT had stopped the erection of two shacks at Baina beach and some at Arossim on the grounds that permissions have not been given by port authorities.
The question is, why are shack operators made to sort out land rights of MPT, an issue which the authorities should have been dealing with? While 324 shack operators have been given permissions by the Tourism Department, the need to take a NOC from the MPT has caught them off guard and has left both the department and Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) confused. While the Tourism Department claims that it has written to the coastal regulatory authority, the State government has refrained from making a statement.
The point of contention here is that there is no clarity forthcoming with the Tourism Department, GCZMA or the State government, leaving common citizens alone to negotiate the issue.
This brings us back to the original point, whether the MPT has absolute rights over the territory demarcated. It may be noted that all notifications on the subject, since the first one issued way back in 1963, have maintained that the port limits shall include all wharves and other works made on behalf of the public for convenience for the traffic of vessels, or for the improvement, maintenance or good governance of the port and its approaches whether within or without the high-water mark and, subject to any rights of private property therein, any portion of the shore or bank within 50 yards of the high-water mark.
The intention behind the Major Ports Authorities Act 2021 may be good, but in a small State like Goa, it could have disastrous consequences. The notification honours rights of private property and it is here that the government of Goa, seen as a third entity in this context, must seek clarity and identify its rights to the coastal land vis-Ã -vis the port limits. What the State government is currently doing is complete surrender.
Surprisingly, the licencing process for shacks is silent on the mandatory requirement of an MPT NOC. Shack owners who are ignorant of the contours of the vast coastline cannot be expected to identify areas demarcated as port limits, rather, it should be the job of the licensing authority to clear those decks.
The MPT coming in the way will have major implications on shack erection and the robust tourism that the State is planning ahead. While shack owners and other tourism-related businesses along the coast are looking ahead for some sunshine after the crippling spell of the pandemic, the MPT clause will throw a spanner and bring in another layer of uncertainty. The State government must immediately intervene or seek central help to resolve the issue.
