Seafood Festival at Miramar beach may run into legal trouble

PANJIM: After more than two decades, the department of Tourism has decided to organise Goa Seafood Festival at Miramar beach from February 9 to 11 despite submitting an affidavit in the High Court stating that the government will not hold seafood festival on beaches. 

Former Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) councillor Patricia Pinto has written to the Department of Tourism mentioning about the affidavit submitted by it to the High Court way back in 1999.

The Goa Seafood Festival is planned on the eve of Carnival floats parade, which starts in the State from February 10. 

Stating that she came across a post of Goa Tourism on Instagram, Pinto has stated that the then Director of Tourism and ex-officio Joint secretary U D Kamat in pursuance to the direction given by the High Court dated February 25, 1999, filed an affidavit stipulating the policy decision taken by the government. 

The policy decision of the government was not to allow any food festival anywhere on the beaches nor to permit any other activities, which will tend to make beaches dirty or create unclean and unhygienic atmosphere. A blanket ban in this regard was decided to be imposed.

The then Advocate General had also told the Court that the then director of tourism S S Keshkamat had filed an affidavit on February 27, 2000, wherein the policy decision of the government was clarified so also the scheme was framed for maintaining cleanliness on the beaches in the State. 

Accordingly the petition filed in 1999 was disposed of by an order on February 14, 2001. The Court in its order said, “We have taken note of the policy decision and the scheme, and we hope that the said scheme and the policy decision will be scrupulously followed in the future. In view of this, nothing survives in the petition. Hence the petition is dispose of by consent.” 

Pinto has hoped that the department of tourism will take serious note of this in view of the festival planned at Miramar beach and warned that if the government chooses to go ahead with the festival on the beach then she will be compelled to initiate contempt proceedings against the department.

When contacted, Director of Tourism Suneel Anchipaka, IAS, said that the Goa Seafood Festival has been finalised for three days at Miramar beach and that he was unaware of the policy decision taken by the government.

“It is technically almost finalised. We do not know (policy decision). I am not aware of it. We do not have anything in the office. We have no records,” he told O Heraldo.

Anchipaka further said that he was yet to receive the copy of the letter written by the former CCP councillor. “So far I have not received it,” he said.