MAPUSA
The Sunburn Beach Club used an obliging administration to have its way and organise a full-blown party in the wee hours of Thursday and a big bash on New Year’s Eve, by first withdrawing an appeal in the High Court and later getting the GCZMA to review its order to de-seal the premises on spurious grounds.
Hundreds of party hoppers descended at Ozran in Vagator dancing and making merry to the beats of loud music at the notorious Sunburn Beach Club.
Two-wheelers and high-end cars zipped passed the coastal village even as the police looked the other way.
Locals informed that the party started after midnight on Wednesday and went on till around 5 in the morning with non-stop loud music being played out.
Upset with the disturbance of the loud music, a local panchayat member Surendra Govekar texted his complaint to Anjuna Police Inspector and the Deputy Collector & SDM Mapusa but received no relief from the authorities.
“Loud music is played by organising a rave party with loud music at Sunburn Beach Club. I request to take action and stop the party and help local residents to sleep peacefully,” Goverkar said in his complaint, which had no impact on the concerned authorities.
Incidentally, the Sunburn Beach Club has been in the news in recent times for all the wrong reasons.
The Deputy Collector & SDM Mapusa just last month had sealed the premises of the club on the directions of the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) after an expert member found several irregularities and violation of CRZ notification by the club.
In an earlier order, the GCZMA had also directed demolition of the several illegal structures carried out by the club.
In fact, soon after the premises was sealed the club managers filed a petition in the High Court but withdrew the plea as they sensed there was no hope for interim relief.
While the High Court passed a one line order dismissing the writ petition as withdrawn on December 28, 2020, ironically on the same day the managers of the club made an application to the GCZMA stating that there were perishable items in the premises and if not removed it would get spoiled.
Interestingly, the GCZMA reviewed its earlier order and directed the deputy collector and SDO Mapusa de-seal the property within 48 hours.
“This authority is of the opinion that the request made by the applicant seems to be genuine and in order to safeguard the interest and to stop incurring of losses the premises needs to be de-sealed,” said Dashrath Redkar, Member Secretary of GCZMA.
Incidentally, the GCZMA has no powers to review orders passed by it.
A resolution passed by GCZMA on August 28, 2018 states that the Authority does not have a power of review on merit and it has a limited power of procedural review.
Attempts to contact the GCZMA member secretary were futile as calls made to the official went unanswered.
