PANJIM: The beach shack operators on Monday met Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and complained that the location for erection of shacks in some of the identified beach stretches by the Department of Tourism was faulty and urged the government to review it.
Calangute MLA Michael Lobo, who led the shack operators’ delegation, later said that this year demarcation of shacks in some of the identified areas was found to be used by traditional fishermen. He said that the shack operators did not want to disturb the traditional fishermen and wanted to relocate the location.
This year there has been a decrease in the number of shacks from 364 to 359 as the Department of Tourism has decided to permit only three shacks instead of the usual eight at Ozrant-Anjuna. The Chief Minister will convene a meeting on Wednesday to resolve the issue as shack owners appealed to him to grant permission to erect shacks as tourism season had already commenced. They also complained that this year the location for erecting shacks in some of the beach stretches of North Goa has been changed or altered.
Shack Owners’ Welfare Society (SOWS) president Cruz Cardozo alleged that a Tourism Department official created confusion in the erection of shacks. He demanded that the government should notify Goa State Beach Policy 2023-26 and start allotment of shacks since the tourism season had already commenced.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that review of the Shack Policy is on and that he has convened a meeting of the officials of Department of Tourism on Wednesday, to resolve all the issues.
