THE GOAN | MAPUSA
The massive fire at Birch By Romeo Lane in Arpora, which killed 25 people and exposed blatant violations of safety and licensing norms, has once again brought into focus a long-running, troubling pattern along North Goa’s coastal belt.
Several nightclubs, restaurants and commercial establishments from Candolim and Calangute to Anjuna, Vagator and Morjim have repeatedly operated without mandatory permissions, defied High Court directions and continued business with impunity.
For years, complaints by residents and activists have highlighted how many hotspots in these areas run without proper NOCs from the fire department, excise licences, food safety permissions, tourism licences, sound permissions, or occupancy certificates, yet continue full-scale commercial operations.
Pattern of violations
Among the establishments that have frequently come under official action in the past for alleged violations are nightclubs and beach-belt restaurants in Candolim, Calangute, Baga, Vagator, Anjuna and Morjim.
These include clubs that were booked for exceeding permitted sound levels, sealed for lack of fire clearance, warned for structural violations, or inspected for running bars without updated licences. Some of them reopened within days, reportedly without addressing the core issues.
Residents argue that this revolving-door pattern is not accidental.
“You cannot run a 1,000-capacity nightclub without fire NOCs, excise permissions or building approvals unless someone in authority is actively protecting you,” said Premanand Diukar, founder president of Calangute Constituency Forum who has taken up several illegal issues in the High Court.
Following the Arpora tragedy, scrutiny has again fallen on the Romeo Lane nightclub in Vagator, promoted by same individuals linked to the Arpora establishment.
The club has been booked by authorities multiple times in the past for violations ranging from sound norms to licence-related irregularities. Yet it continues to operate season after season.
Romeo Lane is not alone. Enforcement data and local monitoring groups show a pattern of brazen illegality across multiple hotspots.
'Authorities hand in glove’
Activists allege a nexus between business owners, panchayat officials and political leaders that allows illegal establishments to flourish.
In Vagator-Anjuna, where several clubs have faced repeated action in the past for alleged illegal construction, violation of CRZ norms or lack of trade licences, residents claim that enforcement is merely “cosmetic”.
“You shut them for one weekend and open them by Monday. When illegal businesses survive for years, it is never by accident. It is because someone powerful wants them to survive,” said Jawish Moniz, a resident of Vagator who has been actively canvassing against illegalities.
High Court orders ignored
In multiple orders over the last decade, the Bombay High Court at Goa has instructed authorities to curb illegal constructions, noise pollution and unlicensed commercial activity in the coastal belt. Yet residents say these orders are routinely ignored.
“What you see along the belt from Candolim to Morjim is a collapse of governance. The Panchayat Act is clear. Trade licences are conditional. If fire clearance lapses, or if a building does not have Occupancy Certificate, the licence shall be revoked. But hardly any panchayat follows the law when it comes to politically connected businesses,” said a former village panchayat secretary, who handled licensing matters before retirement.
Repeated complaints, rare action
Across Candolim and Calangute, locals point to restaurants operating without occupancy certificates, bars built on agricultural tenanted land, and clubs running loud music past permissible hours despite dozens of police complaints.
In Morjim and Arambol, numerous riverside and beachfront shacks have faced action for illegal extensions, absence of fire safety equipment, or running dance floors without permissions.
A senior official from a coastal panchayat, speaking anonymously, admits: “If we strictly enforce the law, half the coastal belt will shut down overnight. And nobody in political leadership wants that. The pressure is real.”
Will the system change?
The Arpora fire has shocked the State and triggered widespread calls for accountability – not just against individual club owners, but the entire machinery that allowed unlicensed establishments to flourish.
“Goa cannot afford another tragedy. Unless licences, safety norms and construction laws are enforced without political interference, we are only waiting for the next disaster,” warns former fire department officer.
As investigations into the Arpora fire continue and police widen the probe to trace owners and partners, the tragedy has reopened an uncomfortable truth: illegal operations did not thrive in darkness – they thrived in plain sight, with the silent consent of those meant to stop them.
