KARAN SEHGAL
PANAJI
It’s that part of the year again when monsoon starts receding and shacks re-surface on the beaches of Goa. Only that, this year it’s are happening in a little more professional manner than earlier years.
The tourism department has already given provisional licenses to shack operators allowing them to build shacks. And, a number of operators have already built shacks in the beach belt of Baga to Sinquerim.
Cruz Carodoso, president, All Goa Shack Owners Welfare Society, said, “Every year, we expect a good season but something or the other happens. Last year, fewer tourists and Ockhi cyclone had affected our business. We pray that such problems do not crop up this time. Foreign tourists have already arrived in Goa and hopefully we have a better season this time.”
He continued, “After obtaining provisional licences from the Tourism Department, we have built our shacks. We will now approach the authorities to get proper license to carry on the business. We also think that the authorities shouldn’t harass us if we don’t possess proper license for a short while. If the government had created a single window system for all licenses, then we would have got all the licenses easily. Since that is not the case, we have to spend some time in getting all the approvals.”
After building the shacks, all the operators are busy trying to get necessary approvals from government departments like Tourism, Excise, Electricity, Goa State Pollution Control Board, Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) and etc. They are hoping that they will get all the required licenses in few days time.
Sebastian D’Souza, a shack operator, said, “We have built our shack in Candolim. There was a delay in getting the NOC from the panchayat. Once we sorted that, things fell into place. We have even got the license from the Excise.”
It is extremely crucial that all government departments give approvals to shack operators in time. A delay in granting approvals will mean that operators will not be able to start business in October, which will also mean loss in tax revenue to the state government.
In the recent past, there have been times when the shack operators could start business only in November for one reason or another. It is important for shacks to begin business by October because both domestic and foreign tourists start coming to the state in large numbers from October itself.
Although operators have built shacks in the Baga-Sinquerim belt, but in other parts of Goa, the operators are still waiting for the rainy season to finally bid adieu and only then will they get on with their work.
Anthony D’Souza, shack operator from Arambol, said “Some operators have started working on their shacks in Arambol, but not all have. As the monsoons finally leave, more and more operators will build shacks.”
The operators will very soon be knocking the doors of the Tourism Department’for obtaining proper license for the season. Last time, a number of shack operators got proper license from the department much after the season was over. This time they are hoping the department to be prompt in issuing them proper license so that they can start business well in time.
John Lobo, general secretary, All Goa Shack Owners Welfare Society, said, “We want shacks to start business before Dussehra. Therefore, we want the tourism department to give us proper license early this year.”
Shack operators also want the state government to fix a number of issues, which will make Goa a much better destination for tourists. Lobo continued, “Our government should take right steps to promote tourism. For example: We don’t have demarcated swimming zones and demarcated water sports zones on our beaches. We will have more accidents if the government doesn’t take demarcation seriously.”
A number of shack operators also complained that beaches are dirty and the contractor picks up garbage much later in the day, which causes inconvenience to them. Sebastian D’Souza said, “Garbage collection from the beach is an issue. The people employed by the contractor come anytime in the middle of the day to collect the garbage. We are trying to ensure that garbage gets collected before 9 am everyday.”
Lobo said “Beach cleaning contractor should clean the beach before 6 am everyday. In Pondicherry, we saw that the contractor was cleaning the beach at 12:30 am in the night when no one was there, which is the best thing to do.”
Garbage on beaches seems to be a never ending issue for which the government will ultimately have to find a fix. Fortunately, not all beaches are dirty. A number of shack operators informed that beaches in the North like Arambol are a lot cleaner.
Hopefully for the shack operators, the beach cleaning issue gets sorted soon. Apart from that, the operators are eagerly looking forward to get all the licenses from the government.
