Panaji (Goa) With the unprecedented high tide resulting in the water rushing in the beach shacks, the tourism industry has said that the state authorities should re-think on the places for allocation of the beach shacks along the coast.
The shack owners say that they had asked the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority to allocate the shack much above the high tide line, but citing environmental concerns, they were allotted right next to the water.
Hundreds of the shacks are facing the wrath of water rushing in their structures during last two days.
President of Shack Owners’ Welfare Society Cruz Cardozo said said almost 80 per cent of the shacks are affected during last two days due to the surge in the water level with few stretches completely inundating.
“The shack owners had specifically requested the GCZMA not to allot the shacks near the high tide line but little upwards. But they were worried after destruction of the sand dunes because of which the structures were allotted right next to the water,” Cardozo said.
The shack owners, he said, had specifically mentioned that they would not touch the sand dunes as the structures are elevated on a platform. “Had the shacks been little upwards, the devastation that is caused could have been avoided to a great extend,” he said.
The beach beds which are laid on the shore line next to the shacks have completely washed away while many of the shack owners will have to re-erect their structures causing severe loss, he said.
Cardozo said that after the highest tide expected to hit the coast tonight, the shack owners will take stock of the situation and damage and then submit representation to the State government seeking compensation.
The beaches of Mobor, Majorda, Cavelossim, Benaulim in South Goa and Arambol, Morjim, Baga, Calangute in North are worst affected, he said.
State’s premier trade body – Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) – has also echoed the views of the shack owners. “There is need to rethink on the allocation of the shacks. The demarcation of the places where shacks could be erected should be decided based on scientific advice,” TTAG President Savio Messiah said.
He said that the allocation should “not be uniform” but on “case-to-case basis with the help of scientific data on the water level.”
He ruled out that the current situation on the beaches would adversely affect the tourism trade. “There will not be an impact on the tourism as such but the tourists running away from the shacks as water rises unexpectedly portrays a wrong picture,” Messiah said.
State tourism department has said that they will wait for the current phase to get over to start with the assessment of the damage caused by the natural disaster.
“It is a natural disaster so State government will naturally assess the damage caused. It may be done by Tourism department or an concerned authority,” State Tourism Director Menino D’Souza said.
He claimed that the current situation would be affect the tourist footfalls. “This is a temporary phase. There wont be any impact on the tourism,” D’Souza said.
Goa is currently witnessing peak tourist season which would culminate in December when lakhs of people will descend here to usher in the New Year festivities.
