Team Herald
Panjim: Days after a brawl at his shack led to the death of a local villager in Arambol, the Department of Tourism has cancelled the shack license issued to Manuel Espritosanto Fernandes and imposed a hefty penalty of Rs 25 lakh. Fernandes is accused of subletting his shack at Arambol beach to a third party, whose workers were involved in an assault that led to the death of Amar Bandekar, the villager.
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The Tourism Department has ordered Fernandes to demolish the shack within seven days, warning that failure to comply will result in the demolition being carried out at his own expense, with costs recovered as arrears of land revenue. Additionally, Fernandes has been permanently blacklisted and barred from participating in future shack allotments under the Tourism Shack Policy.
The department’s action follows a report submitted by the Mandrem Police Inspector on January 27, 2025, which confirmed that Fernandes had violated Clause 20 of the Tourism Shack Policy by subletting the shack. As part of the penalty, the security deposit paid by Fernandes has been forfeited to the government treasury.
On Wednesday, Pernem SDPO Ashish Shirodkar along with Mandrem PI Sherif Jacques held a meeting with shack owners from Arambol, Mandrem, Morjim and Keri areas and sternly warned them not to take law in their hand. The shack owners were also instructed to shut their shacks by 11 pm.
This is not the first case of subletting. In September 2023, the Department of Tourism imposed Rs 10 lakh as fine on Raymond Zeno Fernandes from Calangute for subletting his shack. His security deposit was also forfeited.
Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte expressed concern over the lack of documentation in subletting cases, and emphasised that the department would be using technology to monitor beach shacks more effectively. Khaunte also referred to a separate incident involving a shack in Gauravaddo, Calangute, which was burned down on New Year’s Day. The shack had been sublet to one Rajesh Sharma, and the Calangute police have already booked the owner and staff for negligence in handling firecrackers.
“The government has always supported shack operators with relaxations, but we will not tolerate the practice of subletting to outsiders. Strict enforcement of regulations is our priority,” Khaunte said.
Meanwhile, opposition leaders have raised concerns about the growing prevalence of subletting and accused the government of breaching legal regulations by increasing the number of temporary beach shacks in Pernem to benefit MLAs and ministers associated with the ruling party.
