Team Herald
PANJIM: The Tourism Department is likely to make use of differential geographic information system (GIS) or geo-tagging to demarcate areas for shacks in the coming tourism season 2015-16 and also to ascertain any Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) violations.
The decision has been taken after the Tourism Department observed that shack owners do not erect shacks in the actual area earmarked by the department.
Sources said the Tourism Department has proposed to Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA), the competent authority that guides the department in deciding on the number of shacks, to use differential GIS or geo-tagging to demarcate the areas where the shacks are to be erected.
“The decision has been taken for effective implementation of the shack policy and also to deter shifting the shacks from the demarcated sites and to keep a check on CRZ violations,” sources said.
The department has stated that it is working on the Tourism Policy for the year 2017 and would submit a detailed proposal on this. Nearly 300 shacks were allotted by the department for the season 2014-15.
The department has also proposed formation of a joint committee – north and south Goa – comprising representatives from the Tourism Department, GCZMA, Goa State Biodiversity Board (GSBB), Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) and Forest Department to strengthen the system prior to granting permission for the temporary seasonal structures, especially for protection of sand dunes and maintaining proper sanitation on the beaches.
Sanitation has been a major issue along the beaches with shack operators violating conditions and authorities failing to act against them. GSPCB grants consent to operate to the temporary structures on condition that they maintain proper sanitation and tackle the waste.
