Team Herald
PANJIM: Pressed against the deadline of March 31 to shift the casino vessels out of River Mandovi, State government officials are currently pouring over 2500 suggestions, objections and views from the villages surrounding the proposed sites of Aguada Bay, and Rivers Sal, Chapora and Zuari for the casino relocation.
Confirming that they are reading through the 2,500 suggestions, objections and views received, the officials claim that they would complete the exercise before the end of the current financial year.
The petitions received by the department include 35 to 40 objections from individuals, including activists and panchayats, citing that shifting of the offshore vessels to their jurisdiction will result in law and order problems. The fishermen community too is averse to allow the huge vessels to be anchored in the rivers.
“We are examining the applications,” Additional Home Secretary Sanjiv Gadkar told Herald. He stated that Sancoale panchayat on Zuari River bank is amongst those that has objected to the shifting.
“There are some panchayats and individuals who have opposed the shifting of casinos citing various reasons. All these are under examination,” the officer said, adding that the government will arrive at a final decision by April.
The government had decided to relocate the existing offshore casinos to another destination before March 31, but Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar again extended the deadline. The government had even convinced the casino operators who placed a condition that the vessels would be shifted only after the State provides them proper infrastructure.
The proposed sites were identified following a cabinet decision on August 14, 2013 that all the offshore casinos are required to be shifted out of River Mandovi.
As per the decision, each casino operator was granted operational licenses for five years with an undertaking to shift out of the existing location within two years of signing it. As the deadline inched closer, the government identified the four sites amidst some locals raising objection to relocating the vessels to their areas. The government thereafter in August 2015 invited suggestions from the citizens including all the stakeholders over its proposal.
