AUGUSTO RODRIGUES
AGONDA BEACH: The Canacona PI seems to be waiting for inspiration to come from ace fictional detective Sherlock Holmes to simply find out who owns the Shore Shack, whose activities have seriously endangered turtles in Agonda
It’s been five days since a police complaint was filed by the Forest Department that the turtle nesting site in Agonda was disturbed by the Shore Shack owner on Agonda Beach, but the Canacona PI is supposedly “yet to ascertain the shack owner’s identity”. When asked to disclose the name of the shack owner, Canacona PI Harish Desai said, “I am yet to ascertain who the owner shack is. You can write the name of the shack.”
When brought to his notice that ascertaining the owner’s name was routine because no shack can stand anonymously, he said, “I will investigate and let you know.”
Till the time of going to the press, Desai refused to respond to phone calls.
Attempts were made to find out the identity of the Shore Shack owner, Shamba Dessai, a restaurateur from Canacona via telephone said, “I heard you were at Canacona at the place where sand was extracted to build my relatives' shack. Please do not write anything.”
Forest Guard of Agonda filed the complaint on January 11, and no action was initiated till January 13, Range Forest Officer Rajesh V Naik shot off another letter to the PI the same day.
When asked to explain the delay in investigation, Desai said, “Forest Guards are within the law to arrest if there is an illegality and I do not understand why the complaint has been filed with the police station. I have to study under which Act a case needs to be booked.”
“The Police Inspector claims that sand has not been robbed when there is proof that it has. We have filed a complaint as per procedure and will begin our own investigation by calling the owner after we ascertain who they are, as no one wants to disclose the name. But, we will find out from the CRZ authorities,” assured Range Forest Officer (RFO) Rajesh Naik.
Work was still going on in the shack with a cloth draped to hide it from public gaze. Workers could be seen fitting tiles and the dump created after the sand extraction was visible.
A total of 10 turtles walked ashore at Agonda Beach and laid 963 eggs since Dec 28, 2024, and they have been relocated to the turtle nesting site created by the Forest Department.
The number of 124 eggs was the last clutch size to be relocated on January 15.
“It is unfortunate that some greedy element is trying to disturb this eco-sensitive area of turtles. On one hand, the government had done a great job by declaring our beach as a turtle nesting site and on the other some greedy people are trying to destroy it. For some, money is more important than turtles” stated Pagi, a local.