AUGUSTO RODRIGUES
Locals in Anjuna watched in disbelief on Tues-day as the government finally moved to demolish an illegal beach encroachment by the owners of Romeo Lane at Va-action that came only after the death of 25 people in a fire at the club’s sister con-cern, Birch by Romeo Lane, in Arpora. gator
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
The demolition, ordered by the Chief Minister and execut-ed by the Tourism Department late Tuesday evening, came nearly two years after the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court had first directed the au-thorities to raze the structure on December 14, 2023.
Two bulldozers arrived on Vagator beach around 5 pm, and work continued beyond sunset under heavy police presence. Deputy Director of Tourism Dhiraj Vagle said the department was demolishing only the 198 sqm portion of the Romeo Lane restaurant that encroached on govern-ment-owned beach land. “The main structure on private prop-erty will not be touched for now,” he told reporters.
For residents, the action was both overdue and symbolic of a deeper failure. “It is a crying shame that the government moves only when people die,” said a visibly emotional Manuel Ferreira, watching the demo-lition unfold. “The owners of Romeo Lane have demolished and rebuilt at the same spotumpteen times, and the De-partment of Tourism chose to look away every time.”
The High Court had explic-itly directed authorities to “take immediate steps to re-move the encroachment” and ordered the owners to stop all commercial activity on the il-legal portion. Yet, as locals re-count, the structure repeatedly resurfaced.
“We had read about how this demolition was being stalled and find it hard to believe that the government waited for people to die to comply with the High Court orders. This is a sad reflection of Goa,” stated Sweeney Flores from nearby Badem.
“After the first order, the Tourism Department carried out a superficial demolition, and within days the structure was back,” recalled Maxi D’Souza. “When a contempt peti tion was filed, it was demolished again — but once the case was disposed of, the illegal structure reappeared,” Maxi D’souza who watched the demolition as the sun set said. Residents say the pattern only reinforced their belief that the Luthra brothers — now absconding — enjoyed ex traordinary protection. “It was very clear that the owners of the place were fa vourites of a Minister because attempts by the Tourism De partment to demolish were stalled mid way on a number of occasions. I have personally seen the demolition squad coming and going with work unfinished,” said Javish Moniz, member of the Vagator Anjuna Caisua Association (VAC) a think tank linked to the Vagator parish church. Apart from orders from the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court, the owners of Romeo Lane even ignored the Notice of the Director of the Department of Tourism dated may 27, 2025. “I have sent a file for the encroachment to be demolished again but the file has been held back by the government,” Kedar Naik , Director of Tourism had told O Heraldo – read Tourism Dept’s inaction raises eyebrows in Calangute, Va gator dated August 19,2025. Demolition by the Department of Tourism was last stalled on August 7, 2025 due to the pretext of rain though members of the demolition squad had indicated that, “work was stalled after a phone call from the secretariat.” “There were rumours that the owners were well con nected with a minister and that they had the ears of Central ministers because they are from Gujarat. It could have been true because never before have authorities refused to com ply with orders of the High Court,” said Satyan Harmalkar member of the Anjuna Biodiversity Board who always con sidered the illegal construction as an eyesore. “They (owners of Romeo Lane) had been ordered by the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court to deposit an amount of over ten lakhs towards the re-development of the beach. But once it was done, the illegal structure came up again. It looked like they had the government in their pocket,” stat ed Harmalkar. Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte however insisted Tues day’s demolition had “nothing to do with” the horrific fire at Birch by Romeo Lane. “Birch and Romeo Lane in Vagator are two entirely different issues,” he said. “Restaurants away from the beach do not fall under the Tourism Department’s purview. The High Court had or dered removal of Romeo Lane’s beach encroachment in 2023. We demolished it in 2024. Then came a fresh com plaint in April that it was rebuilt. It was to be demolished in July, but heavy monsoon conditions prevented us from moving machinery onto the beach.” As the sun set, the demolition continued past 7 pm. Ef forts to reach Director of Tourism Kedar Naik were unsuc cessful at the time of going to press.
