PANAJI
Fresh details have emerged revealing that demolition action against the popular ‘Diaz’ club at Anjuna—sealed by authorities over the weekend—had earlier been stalled due to a stay granted by the then Director of Panchayats, Siddhi Halarnkar, who is currently under suspension.
Halarnkar is under the scanner of investigating agencies for her alleged role in the failure to demolish the fire-ravaged Birch by Romeo Lane.
On December 13, the Joint Enforcement Committee constituted in the wake of the tragic Birch nightclub fire carried out an inspection of the Diaz club at Anjuna. During the inspection, the committee found that the establishment was operating without a valid No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Fire and Emergency Services. It was also observed that mandatory fire safety measures were either inadequate or not in place.
In view of these serious lapses and the absence of mandatory fire department permissions required to run such an establishment, the committee directed that the nightclub be sealed. Acting on these instructions, authorities sealed the Diaz club late Saturday evening.
Sources informed that on July 4, the Anjuna–Caisua village panchayat had issued a notice to Diaz directing removal of encroachments and demolition of alleged illegal constructions at the premises. The club management, however, challenged the panchayat’s notice and approached the Directorate of Panchayats for relief.
“Following an ex-parte hearing, the Directorate of Panchayats granted a stay on the demolition proceedings in August. The stay order was issued by Halarnkar,” sources said.
Subsequently, the Anjuna–Caisua village panchayat moved the Directorate of Panchayats seeking vacating of the stay order. A hearing in this regard was held on December 9 -- two days after the deadly Birch nightclub fire -- during which directions were issued to maintain status quo until the next date of hearing. The matter has now been scheduled for further hearing on December 18.
Meanwhile, Halarnkar was recently summoned by the Anjuna police for questioning in connection with the Birch nightclub fire, which broke out late on December 6 and claimed the lives of 25 people, including tourists and hotel staff.
Investigators are examining her alleged role in the non-demolition of the Birch nightclub. She is expected to appear before the Magisterial Inquiry Committee for further questioning.
