Illegalities continue to flourish in the State thanks to lax authorities and often with their blessings. Recently
Mohammad Fasih, chairman and managing director of the Showman Group was taken into custody by the Economics Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Crime Branch for siphoning off crores of rupees belonging to the South Indian Education Society Trust (SIES) and government bodies namely the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development
Authority (MMRDA), the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) and the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC). It is alleged that the Andheri businessman fraudulently made around Rs 300 crore of which RS 150 cr was made by siphoning off money from FD accounts of MMRDA, MTDC and APMC. SIES was duped to the extent
of Rs 58 cr. Fasih during questioning revealed that he had invested part of the scam money in his hotel business in Goa.
Fasih’s Showman Hospitality Pvt Ltd is a stakeholder in Our Shack in Little Vagator, Blue Waves and Morjim Bay in Morjim, Sheesh Mahal Lounge in Margao, according to the Showman Hospitality Website. Of these Blue Waves in Morjim and Our Shack on Ozran beach have been built in gross violations of CRZ with demolition notices issued to them. But that’s as far as the authorities in Goa have gone. Demolition notices for CRZ violations have become nothing more than a piece of paper in the
tourist belt. Herald Review had reported about Our Shack’s illegalities in March this year. The Anjuna panchayat sent notices
to the owners in November 2012 and again in December. In April 2013 the panchayat sent a requisition for demolition squad to the BDO. The BDO kept the matter hanging, and five months later in their reply asked the panchayat to put the file in order and resubmit the documents. The demolition squad finally showed up at the premises on December 13, 2013 with the PI Anjuna police station, executive engineer, Bardez mamlatdar and BDO extension officer. But no demolition was carried out. Dashrath Gawas mamlatdar (Bardez) had said that the permanent structures required JCBs, cutters and 30 labourers. “Our talathi is preparing a report and we will be demolishing it soon.”
The people who run Our Shack
rented the property from Robert
Coutinho who holds the power of attorney
of the land which belongs to
Antonio D’Souza. The problem began,
one of the Goa-based partners
had told this paper, when their silent
partner (Fasih) decided to give the
property a makeover.
Seven months after the demolition
squad visited the site, the shack
which boasts of a bar, lounge area,
dance floor, restaurant and hill side
lodges still stands, though it hasn’t
been running during the monsoon.
“The panchayat is not a technical
body. As per procedure the BDO
should have come and inspected the
site and found out what machinery
was required to demolish the structure,”
one panchayat member said.
The panchayat has been facing a
tough time with their secretary being
transferred every few months. In the
last two years the panchayat has seen
six secretaries. Their most recent
secretary holds additional charge
and this hampers the work of the
panchayat. The panchayat has written
to the Chief Minister, minister for
panchayats (who hails from Mandrem),
and the director of panchayats
asking them to stop transferring
their secretaries.
The most recent letter was dated
July 7 this year and states that the
panchayat is a class A panchayat
with a population of more than
10,000 and that it is becoming increasingly
difficult to deal with
mounting problems of garbage, illegal
constructions, CRZ violations,
development related work with
new secretaries coming in.
“Our administration has almost
collapsed. Each new secretary that
comes is a confused man and has to
start from scratch. It is very suspicious
how this is happening so often.
Whose interests are being protected?
If a secretary is not competent then
the DOP should terminate their services,
not transfer them,” the panchayat
member stated.
A panchayat secretary further has
election duties, census work, meetings
before the BDO and court matters
to attend to that he is left with
precious little time to devote to the
pressing needs of the panchayat like
going for inspections etc.
Blue Waves which CRZ officials
have termed the ‘mother of all CRZ
violations’ is a ground plus one
structure with 21 concrete pillars
and marble flooring. They were also
sent a demolition notice but approached
the Green Tribunal in Delhi
last year.
DCP Mahesh Patil, official
spokesperson of Mumbai Police told
Herald Review that Fasih is the prime
accused and has six different cases
against him each involving crores of
rupees. He has been taken into custody
and the CBI has recently begun
investigating one of the cases. It has
not emerged yet which of his hotels
in Goa Fasih has invested the scam
money in.
