Goemakrponn Desk
PANAJI: Goa’s beach shacks aren’t expected to be open to tourists until the first week of December because the owners still need to finish the payment process and get the necessary licenses to open.
The tourism department has made the decision to extend the deadline for successful applicants to pay the beach shack license fees until this Saturday.
Goa Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte announced on Thursday that the state has begun installing beach shacks and has begun providing temporary No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to shack owners.
Goa’s tourist season has already begun, but the construction of shacks has been delayed because the state environment department took longer than expected to determine the beaches’ capacity to accommodate shacks. Khaunte
According to him, the environment department has recommended that 364 shacks be built on different beach sections in the coastal state.
“The construction of beach shacks has already begun. The owners of the shacks are receiving provisional NOCs from the department,” Khaunte stated.
ourism Dept has extended the time for payment of shack fees to Saturday, Nov 25. The earlier deadline was Nov 17. Shack business operators who have been allotted shacks will be given provisional NOCs after payment of fees.
Using the provision NOCs they can erect the shacks and come back for final NOCs, informed Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte. Of the 364 shacks 353 have been allotted to shack business operators through lots. The demarcation process has also been complete, Khaunte added.
Shack owners also said that other stakeholders who have businesses that are affiliated with shacks also suffered and so it was a blow to the tourism industry that there were no shacks since October unlike previous years.
Shack owners lamented that they know of guests, who visit their shacks every year, who had cancelled their flights to Goa this year as the shacks were not available and they chose another destination for their holiday instead.
They remain hopeful nonetheless that the remainder of the tourism season can be salvaged, given the high investments.