During Portuguese time
the Candolim Beach was very clean having its natural beauty intact. There was no hindrance of any Shacks
there. The first plain Shack was erected
somewhere in 1968 by one local Joaquim Lopes where he was selling Tea, Soft
Drink and some eatables like Sandwiches.
Besides this there was one Restaurant “Ceu Mar” built by Mr.
Britto. In this Restaurant there were two rooms for rent.
Gradually in seventies
due to increase in tourist traffic, somewhere in 1976/77 about half a dozen Shacks
were erected by the locals only when there was no Tourism Department nor CRZ
formalities in existence because till such time commercialization of tourism as
it is now was not in practice.
In Eighties due to
heavy commercialization of tourism, Shacks on the entire Candolim Beach started
mushrooming when terms like Tourism Dept. and CRZ became audible and they
started exercising their control over all the activities on the Beach. The people involved in running this Shack
business were all locals coming from low income category. There are about 100 Shacks spread all over the Candolim Beach
owned by the locals only who earned their livelihood thru this business.
The recent spate of
demolition of Shacks by the Tourism department on Candolim Beach has put the
Shack owners out of their normal track thereby instilling fear into their minds
and hearts because of the fear of demolition of their Shacks. Those whose
official paper work is not in order are more afraid of losing their only mode
of earning their sustenance. The recent demolition of Shacks in Candolim with
the excuse that they are illegal has created a very bad image of the government
of Goa in general and Tourism Dept. in particular. Tourism Dept. should have
stopped these illegal Shacks in the beginning only instead of waiting for the
penultimate month of the season ending and thereby killing the huge investment
put into this business by the affected Shack owners. Heaven would not fall if this demolition operation
was stayed especially in view of the people involved in this business are all
Goans. What is the use of this
government if it does not give preferential treatment to the locals?
The demolition
operation of the Shacks done on Candolim Bbeach was very ruthless, the guest
tourists mainly the Westerners were not even allowed to have their meals
finished eating. They were evicted from
their dining tables as if they were Jews in Naziland. Their beach beds were cut
when they were still lying on the beds. It was totally an inhuman operation devoid of humane attributes. These tourists are very much hurt by the way
they were shabbily treated by the demolition squad, these tourists pumped in lot of money
into Tourism industry of Goa thereby enriching Goan economy and since this
is the case, they naturally deserve decent treatment without any fear of
trouble for them. They want to spend
their time peacefully on the Beach without any disturbance, they are not
bothered whether the Shacks where they eat and drink are legal or illegal, it
is not their business to know this. All
they want is peaceful atmosphere to enjoy their stay in Goa. Some of these
tourists have even decided to prevent their Western colleagues from coming to
Goa thus giving a strong jolt to Tourism in Goa. As it is, Tourism boom is waning in Goa and
at this juncture government of Goa should do something to give a push forward
to Tourism promotion even by eradicating the license system for erecting
Shacks.
These tourists are
coming to Goa regularly since a long time now and as such they have built a
strong rapport between them and the Shack owners who are doing their best to
give very good service and treatment to their guests. But now, these tourists numbering over a
thousand have vowed never to return back to Goa from next season to face the
humiliation of demolition squad of Tourism department and of local Police. Some of these tourists are coming to Goa only
to maintain their friendly link and rapport they created with these friendly
Shack owners. They patronize Goan tourism only because of these poor Goan Shack
owners who promote Goan tourism beautifully where the inputs of Tourism Department
and its minister is almost a Big Zero.
A. Veronica Fernandes,Candolim, Goa.
Tel: 7507394349.
