PANAJI
In what could give a major relief to some shacks and temporary structures along the beaches, which are currently under High Court scrutiny for operating illegally, the State Cabinet on Monday accorded its approval to promulgate an Ordinance thereby exempting such structures from obtaining construction licenses from the Department of Town and Country Planning (TCP) and panchayat.
The Cabinet approved ‘Goa Erection of Shacks/Temporary Structures on Public Beaches Regulation and Control Ordinance 2023’, the provisions of which will be made applicable to all existing shacks and temporary structures as well as those coming up in future. However, the structures will have to obtain necessary trade licenses for operating their businesses.
The decision comes in the wake of a series of directions by the High Court with regards to sealing of illegal structures operating in the CRZ and No Development areas without obtaining request permissions like construction license, CRZ clearance, trade license, consent to operate, etc. The Court has ordered sealing of 175 structures -- including temporary and permanent, in Anjuna -- while another 160 structures in Arambol have been issued show cause notices.
“These structures, which are granted approval under Beach Shack Policy, do not require construction license even now. But off late several problems have started to crop up in the absence of a statute to govern this,” said Chief Minister Pramod Sawant without referring to the on-going hearing before the High Court.
“These structures will now only require permissions from the department of tourism and environment. They will also have to obtain a requisite trade license to run their trade or business. They are only exempted from obtaining construction licenses as these are only temporary structures,” Sawant added.
“The Ordinance, however, does not cover any permanent structures,” he clarified.
Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte said that ordinance incorporates statutes to govern the erection, control and regulation of beach shacks and temporary structures erected on the beaches as per the Beach Shack policy.
