PANJIM: Private shack operators have served a legal notice to Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) to initiate the process of granting permissions for erection of shacks and huts in private properties within seven days, failing which they would approach the High Court for directions.
In the notice served to GCZMA, the All Goa Private Property Shacks and Huts Owners Association said that the delay in initiating the process of issuing permissions, is affecting the business.
“We request for permissions for erection of shacks and huts in private properties, in accordance with law, within seven days, failing which we would be constrained to approach the High Court,” Association member Gaurang Panandikar said in the notice.
Panandikar pointed out that the season for erection and operation of private shacks and huts starts on October 1 and as a result of the delay on part of GCZMA, already more than two months of business has been lost.
“The delay on your (GCZMA) part has affected the livelihood of all the members of the association as well as the means to earn a livelihood of many other people from the State, who are directly or indirectly dependent on the said business,” Panandikar added.
The association said that the National Green Tribunal (NGT), in its judgment dated December 17, 2014 , had asked GCZMA to regulate seasonal temporary structures in a sustainable manner without affecting the pristine coastal environment of Goa. “That as per the judgment, Authority was supposed to issue permissions for seasonal temporary structures only after completion of detailed survey of sand dunes and after carrying capacity study of beaches,” he said.
Panandikar said that the process of issuing permissions for beach shacks is already complete and the sand dune study and beach carrying capacity study has also been completed. “In the light of the same, we expect GCZMA to being process of issuing permission for the erection of shacks in private properties immediately,” he added.
