PANJIM: Shack operators are in for a nightmarish start to the tourism season, even as the season started September 15, since till date the demarcation and allocation of beach shacks has still not been done by the government with at least an additional 25 days needed to get all permissions.
Even as hordes of tourists visited the state on the long weekend which ended Monday, there were no shacks on Goan beaches, due to delayed decision making of the Tourism department.
According to the Beach Shack Policy, September 15 was the last day to pay the shack licence fees and if the shacks are not erected by October 15, the department warns that licences will be cancelled.
“We will first meet (Tuesday) and then we will go to the director (tourism director Ameya Abhyankar),” Shack Welfare Association’s Cruz Cardozo told media, complaining that the season has already started but the shacks have still not come up. Shack operators stated that most of them have made payments to government in August itself.
According to the shack policy, the tourism season is from September to May, but now it is October and the demarcation itself has not been completed with shacks in areas like Majorda still to be finalized.
After the demarcation, panchayat permission has to be obtained before erection of the shack. This takes around 10 days. After that around eight licenses have to be obtained before the shacks can finally become operational.
According to shack operators that takes around 15 days. “We have to first pay and then erect. That is the procedure. But demarcation has been delayed,” Cruz said.
