PANAJI
Casino operators got six more months to have their vessels anchored midstream in the navigation channel of Mandovi river which hugs the capital city Panaji.
The Pramod Sawant-led cabinet on Wednesday granted yet another six-month extension to the deadline for these vessels to be moved out of the river.
The casino operators had been directed by the Bombay High Court some years ago to move out of the river and operate elsewhere at a location to be designated by the State government.
Until such time as the government identifies a feasible offshore location, the High Court pemitted six-monthly windows for the casinos to continue operating from the current location.
An alternate site identified off the Aguada Bay has been rejected by the industry as anchoring the vessels amid choppy waters would lead to clientele facing sea-sickness.
The government is now mulling a gaming district in the jurisdiction of the Mopa Planning and Development Authority.
The High Court had intervened after barge, trawler and sightseeing cruise operators complained the casino vessels were clogging the river's crucial navigation channel.
