No cottages beach in Goa this tourist season
Bad news for the traveler in Goa as the government has planned that, this time the cottages might not be seen in Goa’s beach around this tourist season due to the National Green Tribunal, directing the state government to keep its beach shacks policy on hold, until it submits the mandatory Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP). The state government renewed the expiring licenses earlier this year for the next three years.
Goa has been given time till November 15 to submit the CZMP, as it is only the state who has not submitted it till date. However, It was re- scheduled to submit the said plan by August 31 after failing the deadline of May 2018, but could not do so and requested the NGT further a time of six-month in order to complete the expansion formalities required to formulate the plan.
The Coastal Zone Management plan formally demarked off the coastal areas into commercial, environment, and no development zones. The CZMP is a mandatory document that is required to be submitted by each coastal state to the Ministry of Environment and Forests under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification 2011.
As on date , the Goa Government has assured the hut owners that it will try to get a relaxation from the NGT. Cabinet Minister Michael Lobo, who represents the tourism Centric Calangute constituency in Goa, said that they will file an affidavit before the NGT declaring that the cottages are completely temporary and should not be tied down like other projects. He also stated that they will assure the NGT to finalise the CZMP by November.
Goa’s cottages have been the synonyms of Goa’s beaches, which are experienced as an integral part of tourism also . These huts are completely on temporary basis and it offers employment to locals, which are uprooted with the beginning of monsoon every year.
Also the state Tourism Ministry conducts a lottery to allot the beach cottages before the commencement of the tourism season in March every year.
