Team Herald
VASCO: The owner of the pontoon ‘Bhageerath, which ran aground at Arossim beach last week and was abandoned, has been given until Monday to remove the same, failing which the State administration will take serious action against him, informed RDA minister and Cortalim MLA Alina Saldanha.
Speaking to reporters in Vasco on Friday, Saldanha stated, “The destruction at the beach started ever since the pontoon ran aground at the Arossim shore, thereby triggering anger among the locals. As the local MLA, I met Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar as well as officials of the Captain of Ports and sought their intervention to ensure that the sinking pontoon is removed immediately.”
She further said, “On Thursday, Parulekar called Sanjeev Jain, the pontoon owner and director of Arihant Ship Breakers, and Jain assured that he would bring big tug boats and remove the pontoon within two days. Although he has asked for two days, I will give time till Monday, and if the pontoon has still not been removed, then strict action will be taken against the owner.”
Meanwhile, the Cansaulim Villagers Action Committee (CVAC) has demanded that the Tourism Department and the Cansaulim-Arossim-Cuelim (CAC) panchayat learn from the incident and ensure that no permission was given for beach weddings.
“Firstly, the beaches from Velsao to Arossim are not private beaches for the Tourism Department or panchayat to give permissions for beach weddings. On the day of this beach wedding, several local fishermen had to face hardships as the organizers were preventing them from carrying out fishing activities close to the wedding venue on the beach,” said Simon D’Souza of CVAC.
He continued, “The State administration, especially the Tourism Department and panchayat, should learn from the incident, in which the grounded pontoon has become a threat to the beach. We demand that the Tourism Department and CAC panchayat identify the coast from Velsao to Arossim as a restricted zone, and henceforth, stop issuing permission for beach weddings, failing which the villagers are prepared to come onto the streets.”
