PANAJI
Shack owners facing a considerable three-month setback in starting their business, raised serious concerns about the government formalities once again.
Gathered in large numbers outside Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's official residence, the aggrieved shack operators on Thursday echoed their demand for enforcing the old demarcation plan 2019-23, while recalling a promise from the CM that hadn’t been adhered to by the Tourism and Environment Departments.
The ‘ambassadors’ of Goa Tourism claimed non-compliance with the agreed-upon plan during a meeting with the CM to which Sawant assured a swift action by instructing the concerned departments to follow the old demarcation plan. He also assured that the shack issue would be resolved by the end of the day as he also called upon officials from both departments to resolve the issue.
“There was unrest (among the shack operators) because there is already a delay by one month…The Environment and Tourism Departments are asked to go ahead with the previous demarcation plan,” the CM told media after the crucial meeting which was also attended by Calangute MLA Michael Lobo.
Subsequently, Lobo also updated the media about the CM’s decision claiming the stakeholders are relieved with the latest development.
The shack business has already been delayed by around two months as the tourist season began in October while its setting up should have begun in September following demarcation.
The Tourism Department in a recent revised order increased the total number of shacks from 254 to 259 on the northern coast, keeping in line with the beach carrying capacity report of the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority.
With this, the overall shacks allotted for the tourist season 2023-26 is 364 “ 259 in North Goa and 105 in South Goa.
