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.