MLAs seek political accountability; say forged licences, ignored violations and official apathy turned regulatory failure into a mass-casualty
Opposition MLAs sit in the well of the House holding placards demanding a CBI probe and political accountability in the Birch fire tragedy.
MAPUSA
On the final day of the Goa Legislative Assembly session, the Opposition mounted a fierce and coordinated attack on the BJP government, accusing it of presiding over a complete collapse of governance that led to the horrific Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub fire, which claimed 25 lives last month.
Displaying placards, rushing to the well of the House and refusing to be placated by bureaucratic suspensions, Opposition MLAs demanded political accountability, a CBI inquiry and the immediate tabling of the magisterial inquiry report, alleging that the tragedy was the inevitable outcome of a corrupt and complicit permissions regime.
Chief Minister and Home Minister Pramod Sawant sought to defend the government, insisting that action had been initiated.
He told the House that a magisterial inquiry had been conducted, errant nightclubs sealed, officials suspended and inspections carried out across Goa. “Eighty-six establishments were inspected. Twenty-two units without consent to operate or fire NOC have been sealed. The panchayat secretary and sarpanch have been booked and police are searching for them. A red corner notice has been issued against one of the owners, Khosla. No one involved will be spared. I am personally monitoring the case,” Sawant said.
But the Opposition was unimpressed, accusing the government of sacrificing officials while shielding those who wield political power.
‘Who takes political responsibility?’
Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao launched a scathing attack on the Chief Minister, asking who would take responsibility for allowing an illegal nightclub to function despite blatant violations.
“The club had no fire NOC, no construction licence and the trade licence was obtained by forging documents. The list of illegalities is endless. When 25 innocent people died for no fault of theirs, who takes political responsibility?” Alemao thundered.
“You suspend officials, but why no action against the minister concerned? Sack the minister. Fix accountability. Heads must roll – not just of clerks and secretaries,” he said, while demanding a CBI inquiry into the tragedy.
Legal loopholes, suspect action
AAP MLA Venzy Viegas warned that even post-tragedy action by authorities appeared designed to fail judicial scrutiny. He pointed out that the Goa State Pollution Control Board withdrew the nightclub’s consent to operate without issuing a show-cause notice.
“This creates a legal loophole. The nightclub can challenge the withdrawal on grounds of violation of natural justice, just as it happened in the Morjim club case. Is this incompetence or deliberate sabotage?” Viegas asked.
Both Alemao and Viegas demanded that the magisterial inquiry report be made public and tabled in the House.“What are you hiding? Who are you protecting? Is any minister’s name mentioned in the report?” Viegas asked pointedly.
Built on salt pan, tenanted land
Congress MLA Carlos Ferreira exposed startling details from the magisterial inquiry, stating that the nightclub was constructed on a salt pan, agricultural land and a sluice gate, where no permissions could legally be granted. “This itself proves that every NOC issued was illegal. And yet, multiple departments and the panchayat cleared the project,” Ferreira said.
Producing documents, Ferreira further revealed that the land had two tenants, making any commercial activity illegal under law. “How did the Pollution Control Board grant consent on tenanted land? Are licences being issued without site verification?” he asked.
CZMP confusion, suspensions follow
Responding, Sawant claimed that under the 2011 Coastal Zone Management Plan, the area was shown as non-CRZ.
“We don’t know how this mischief happened. An inquiry has been ordered and action will be taken,” he said.
The CM informed the House that the Member Secretary of the GSPCB and two staff involved in inspecting the nightclub had been suspended.
He also claimed the government was cracking down on illegal constructions and commercial activity on tenanted land, with 336 show-cause notices issued and an audit committee set up to frame SOPs.
However, on the Opposition’s demand to make the magisterial report public, Sawant remained non-committal.
“Let the chargesheet be filed first. Then we will decide on making the report public,” he said.
For the Opposition, that assurance rang hollow.
As the session ended, the message from the Opposition benches was unequivocal: the Birch fire was not an accident, but the result of a rotten permissions system – and until political accountability is fixed, justice for the 25 dead remains incomplete.
