CALANGUTE: Three shacks and a hut with a wooden canoe were gutted in a suspected arson incident in Saunta Vaddo at Baga early Saturday morning.
Electronic items, kitchen items and furniture were destroyed in the fire, destroying property estimated at Rs 80 lakh.
According to reports, the incident took place at 6 am when locals noticed the fire at the ‘La Kristie Music Café’ of Christopher Dias. The flames quickly spread to the ‘Bottle Bay’ shack of Ninil D’Souza, the ‘Red Frog’ shack of Andrew Fernandes and the wooden canoe of Domnic D’Souza.
Fire tenders from Mapusa and Pilerne were pressed into service and locals also assisted in the operations, but little could be done to protect the three shacks and the wooden canoe.
The fire brigades battled to control the flames and at times, even ran out of water. After the fire was brought under control in the afternoon, two more fire tenders were requisitioned later in the day to extinguish the fire on the wooden materials.
Calangute panchayat members led by Joseph Sequeira later visited the affected shack owners and presented a cheque of Rs 25,000 each to Andrew Fernandes, Ninil D’Souza and Domnic D’Souza under the Natural Calamity Fund of the Calangute Panchayat. Calangute MLA Michael Lobo, who also visited the site said the fire had been deliberately started due to some dispute.
“Locals have said the fire was set deliberately at the La Kristie Music Shack due to some dispute between the partners themselves and as a result, the fire spread to other shacks which were unfortunately destroyed in the fire,” said Lobo.
Calangute Parish Priest Fr Cipriano D’Silva, who also visited the site, also expressed dismay over the illegal activities in the village.
“I am worried about the illegalities along the coast for the sake of money. I have been guiding and urging our parishioners not to undertake illegalities just to earn a fast buck, but to earn money due to hard work and sacrifice,” said Fr D’Silva.
Ninil D’Souza, owner of Bottle Bay, was distraught and could not hold back his tears.
“The loss is huge and difficult for us to estimate,” said D’Souza.
‘Red Frog’ shack owner, Andrew Fernandes, added, “It will be difficult make up for the losses that we have suffered for the next five years.”
Mapusa Deputy Collector Pundalik Khorjuenkar and Bardez Mamlatdar Shama Arondekar visited the site and took stock of the situation. The illegal shack and a structure were later razed with the help of JCB in the presence of Lobo.
