CALANGUTE: Most of the beach shack operators in the Calangute-Candolim belt have already dismantled their shacks although there’s still a couple of weeks to go before the season ends on May 31.
There are around 200 shacks permitted on the beach stretch and of these, around 160 shacks had been sealed in April following a High Court order after they were found to be operating without the consent to-operate from the State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB).
While around half of them reopened after complying with the guidelines of the GSPCB, others decided to wind up for the season as there was only about a month left for the season to end and their workers had already decided to leave.
Around 60-70 shack owners whose shacks had not been de-sealed were unable to dismantle their shacks although they had written to the tourism department that they be permitted to dismantle their shacks.
But they have also started dismantling their shacks from Wednesday after the authorities de-sealed them, according to shack owners welfare society general secretary John Lobo. “They have de-sealed the shacks in Candolim in the last two days and they’ve reached Calangute and should complete the process by Saturday,” he said.
Terming it a good season, he said, “Overall it was OK. Shacks in Baga and Calangute did good business. For some dependent on foreign charter tourists it was not OK. There were a lot of domestic tourists, so most got business,” he said.
