Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said that his government would request the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for permission to set up beach shacks along the state’s coastline. The promise was made in the wake of the NGT issuing a stay on the implementation of Goa’s state shack policy on Friday, September 13, 2019.
Shacks are a crucial part of the Goan tourism experience -- so much so, that the state’s beaches are incomplete without them. Not only do shacks attract many tourists, they also create job opportunities for locals.
While the shacks have been around for at least 40 years, NGT’s recent stay order could ensure they do not reopen for the foreseeable future. This would undoubtedly hit on Goa’s beach-driven economy, especially with the tourism season set to begin on October 1.
The stay order on the shacks was issued after the state failed to submit its Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) by the earlier-determined deadline of August 31. This makes Goa the only Indian state yet to finalise its CZMP.
CZMPs are important because they formally demarcate areas within coastal regions into commercial, environmental, and no-development zones. This ensures that a balance is maintained between the environmental, economic and human activities, and that the long-term health and stability of the coast remains intact.
While the NGT has directed the Goan government to not issue shack licences until the submission of the plan document, CM Pramod Sawant has promised to take immediate measures to at least procure a temporary resolution.
"The stand we have taken, is that we will submit the plan by November 30. We will also ask the NGT to permit us to give licences for shack owners, because tourist season is starting from October 1," Sawant told reporters in Panaji, the state capital, on Monday.
Every year, Goa’s shacks come down around the onset of the monsoon, when tourist footfalls thin out, only to come back up towards the end of the year. The state’s tourism department conducts draws for the allocation of shack licenses, and only then are the owners permitted to erect structures on the beaches.
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With inputs from IANS
