MAPUSA
The demolition of structures of the controversial Curlies nightclub in Anjuna continued on Saturday and was likely to take some more days to raze all the illegal structures down.
Since JCB machines cannot be used to demolish the structures due to the uneven topography, several labourers were engaged in the task of manually bringing down the structures, slowing the entire process.
An official of the district administration informed that the process of demolition may take another few days since heavy machinery could not be used in the exercise.
“The labourers are engaged in the task of manually bringing down the roofs part by part. It’s painstaking and takes a hell of a time. The whole demolition work has slowed down because of this,” an official at the site informed.
Labourers were seen using pickaxes to separate wooden structures and gas cutters to cut through the steel plates at the site which resembled a typical bombing site.
On Saturday, the demolition work started at around 8.30 am and went on throughout the day without any law and order problem.
Unlike on the first day, a few police personnel were present to oversee the security aspect.
The State administration had begun demolition of the controversial restaurant on Friday after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) upheld the demolition order issued by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) against Curlies restaurant for violating the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms.
The Supreme Court granted a stay on the demolition of structures in survey no 42/10 after the owner of the restaurant approached the apex court to halt the razing of the nightclub.
The court, however, allowed the demolition of any unauthorised constructions in properties other than the particular survey number. The next hearing in the matter has been fixed on September 16.
While the Supreme Court had stayed demolition in survey number 42/10, the Curlies structures spanned across adjoining properties in survey nos 42/9, 42/11, 45/19 and 45/41, where the demolitions can go on.
