Team Herald
PANJIM: The business of the off-shore casino industry has been hit in the last two days owing to a massive protest held by traditional fishermen demanding immediate ban on the unnatural ways of fishing.
With canoes parked in River Mandovi, blocking the entire channel, the off-shore casinos found it hard to transport its customers on board the vessel from the jetty. Interestingly, besides hundreds of protesters on the streets, some had camped on the jetty too.
“The fishermen have taken charge of feeder boats and jetties. We requested them (fishermen) to allow feeder boats to ply but to no avail,” a casino official said.
He cited few instances wherein customers either cancelled or postponed their visit on-board as a result of the strike. “They feared law and order problem. We get majority clients from North India. Some, who had already booked their visit to our off-shore casino requested postponement,” he added.
Another casino operator, requesting anonymity also alleged that fishermen were not cooperating as they refused to heed to their repeated requests to clear the river channel. The industry operators now claim to have approached the government seeking relief.
Speaking to Herald, Captain of Ports James Braganza revealed that feeder boats reduced the number of trips but the operations were not completely stalled.
However, the situation normalised on Thursday when the fishermen parked their canoes alongside the riverbank, which came hours before the violence on the streets in the capital.
