TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The Captain of Ports Department is all set to take over MV Leela, the casino vessel owned by the former Haryana Minister Gopal Kanda, as he failed to comply with the directives to tow the vessel from where it is presently anchored in the Mandovi.
CoP will take possession and possibly tow it to South Goa by taking necessary inventory, by next week. Thereafter the decision would be also taken to auction the vessel, owned by the company ~Golden Globe Hotels Pvt Ltd from Gurgaon.
Speaking to Herald, Captain James Braganza said that vessel owners failed to reply to the notices and tow the vessel as earlier directed by the tourism department. The company had sought for additional time to tow it, which was refused, he added.
CoP has received government approval for taking possession of the vessel, which would be done next week, Braganza said adding ‘the vessel, lying idle in the Mandovi River has become unsafe and poses a hazard to navigation’.
Once it is taken over, a note would be moved to Law department seeking permission to auction it, he said. Golden Globe Hotels would be charged a fee for usage of port jurisdiction.
The tourism department had earlier issued two notices to Golden Globe Hotels on January 28 and June 3, 2013 to remove the vessel under Section 7 of the Goa Tourist Places (protection and maintenance) Act, 2001. The act empowers the department to take action against anything that can cause nuisance and affect tourism potential, but it failed to positively respond to the notice.
