PANAJI
Goa Governor, P S Shreedharan Pillai on Saturday promulgated the Goa Erection of Shacks on Public Beaches (Regulation and Control) Ordinance, 2024 that will help regulate (and regularise) shacks set up in CRZ areas along Goa’s coastline both along the tourism beaches as well as in private lands (private shacks) set up along the coastline.
According to the gazette notification, this Ordinance “shall apply to such beach shacks which are permitted by the Department of Tourism to be erected on public beaches under the Goa Shack Policy and all other temporary structure permitted by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority in terms of the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification on public or private properties.”
According to the Ordinance, “the erection of shacks on the beach site under the Goa Shack Policy and the temporary and seasonal structures permitted by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority shall not require any construction licence or technical clearance under any of the foregoing statutes…”
The structures will however require permission to erect a temporary and seasonal structure from the Director of Tourism, an NOC from the village panchayat or municipality, a trade licence issued by the panchayat or municipality, NOC from the Health Department and NOC from the Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services.
Any individual permitted by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority to erect temporary or seasonal structures permitted by the CRZ notification (or permitted by the Director of Tourism shall be referred to as an allottee.
The Ordinance was brought after the Bombay High Court at Goa refused to grant relief to owners of “temporary establishments” relief from sealing pointing out that their structures didn’t come under the definition of temporary either under the TCP Act or the Goa Panchayati Raj Act and as such were illegal.
The Bombay High Court at Goa in early March, rejected multiple applications that sought exemption from sealing as part of the ongoing drive against illegal structures operating along the Anjuna coast ruling that a construction licence from the village panchayat and technical clearance from the Town and Country Planning Act was mandatory.
“At present, since the applicant’s structures have no permissions from the Town and Country Planning Department or any permission under Section 70 of the Panchayat Raj Act or even any Completion & Occupancy Certificate, it would not be appropriate to order the de-sealing and permit the Applicant to undertake commercial activities from such structures,” the High Court had ruled.
In the case of another similar plea filed by Rahul Tibrewal, the High Court ruled that even though the applicant had permission from the GCZMA to set up ‘temporary structures’ that he would have to demolish after five years, the structure fell under the definition of building and consequently construction licence was necessary.
