Owners cry foul as police enforce early closure
MAPUSA
Police officials have ordered the closure of all shacks along the Candolim, Calangute and Mandrem beaches by midnight, following recent incidents of shack staff assaulting tourists.
The tourist police are enforcing this directive and a total of 236 shacks have been affected at the three beaches.
The decision by police to force shacks to close by 12 am has been questioned by the shack owners association, as it claims that shack owners have permission to keep shacks open till 1 am.
Justifying the action to direct shacks to close by 12 am, a police officer said the police was taking action as per the shack policy.
In a recent incident, shack owners and their staff fatally assaulted one tourist at Calangute beach, while there have been similar incidents of assaults on tourists at beach shacks in Mandrem and Candolim beaches.
In light of the recent incidents of assaults on tourists on the beach, the tourist police are ensuring that no one strolls or drinks alcohol on the beach after the shacks close at midnight.
After the fatal assault at the shack in Calangute, North Goa SP Akshat Kaushal had directed that the shacks at the Candolim, Calangute and Mandrem beaches be closed by 11 pm.
However, on the request of local MLAs, the deadline to close the shacks was later extended to 12 am.
The shack owners claimed that while music at shacks stops by 10 pm, the tourism department has permitted shacks to remain open till 11 pm, while the excise department has permitted shacks to sell liquor till 1 am.
John Lobo, General Secretary of the Goa Shack Owners Welfare Society, said it was unfair to target all shacks in a blanket manner because of one or two incidents.
“As per the licence of the excise department, we operate shacks till 1 am. But now, it has been suddenly advanced to 11 pm. The police are taking action to close shacks. The State government should immediately find a solution to this issue,” said Lobo.
