FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2024
The Tourism Department has literally been given a rap on the knuckles for abdicating its responsibilities.
As per the Shack Policy of the Tourism Department, 196 beach shacks have been earmarked in the Calangute and Candolim beach areas. However, as per the submission to the High Court by the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), 167 shacks have been erected in the most sought-after beach belt of the State. Thus nearly all the shacks operating in Calangute and Candolim areas have been operating illegally, right under the nose of the Tourism Department.
Earlier, the Shack Policy emphasized that 90 percent of the total shacks would be allotted to those with more than three years of experience in operating a shack, which is to provide the shack operation business to traditional shack operators. However, the policy for the year 2022-23 abolished the requirement, though in practice most of the shack operators have been in the business traditionally.
A list of 10 State government departments is mentioned in the shack policy apart from the local governing body which has to grant permission or NOC to the successful bidders of the shack allotment. Therefore, the question arises how the Tourism Department permits the operation of the shacks without the submission of the relevant permissions and NOCs from various departments? Did the government grant permission even before all these departments issued their NOCs?
The buck stops at the Tourism Minister who had recently opined that Calangute has become a place for illegalities and the local police has not been performing its duties. Will the Minister then take punitive action first on the officials of his own department and then seek action from the Chief Minister against officials in other departments for dereliction of duty?
The flying squad, as envisaged in the Shack Policy, has a major responsibility of ensuring that all illegalities are nipped in the bud, however, in the present scenario it is clearly evident that the flying squad is either nonfunctional or has been turning a blind eye. From noise pollution due to high decibel music during the night hours to illegal soak pits and bore wells, the fact that the flying squad didn’t even notice the illegalities - let alone act against them - has proved that it is an inoperable arm of the Department’s enforcement wing.
There are in total 364 shacks earmarked across the State along the beaches from North to South and the High Court has sought a status report from the Tourism Department on the shacks on other beach belts of the State. However, while deciding the fate of the shacks across the State, the High Court must take cognizance of the fact that the officials who have been shouldered the responsibility to ensure that all businesses operate legally have shrugged off their duty and are responsible for the mushrooming of illegalities along the beach belt of the State. There needs to be a decisive punitive action on the officials for dereliction of duty.
With only two months remaining for the current shack operations, it would be prudent for the government to ensure that the future seasons do not go haywire. The Tourism Department should learn from the various cases that the High Court has had to pass judgments and force a course correction on the activities of the department. The least the Tourism Department could do is to begin the shack application process at least a month earlier than usual, alongwith making the officials and the flying squad accountable for their responsibilities.
