‘Goa shack policy delay will favour private owners’

COLVA: With no sign yet of the new beach shack policy, shack owners are worried that any delay in its announcement will give private shack owners an undue advantage once the tourism season begins.
The government which is still mulling over the shack policy, likely to be applicable for the next three years, has promised to issue it before September 15.However, most private players have already started preparing for the upcoming season, this irrespective of the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) mandates. Private shacks always have an edge over us as by the time the allotment is done, and the areas marked on the beach, private players establish themselves and are able to attract customers, said one shack owner.
Chief minister Pramod Sawant recently said that the government will be unable to process applications for beach shacks licenses and other tourism projects till the CZMP is finalised and submitted to the centre.
Reacting to this, shack owners society, president, Cruz Cardozo said, “The Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification already makes a mention of beach shacks and that they have to be allowed from September to May.” Cruz said that material from the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management which held a study on carrying capacity of shacks on the Goa’s coastal belt have already been submitted to the environment ministry.