CoP Tasked to Find Possible Sites in Aguada Bay For Relocating Offshore Casinos, Congress Opposes the Move

Goa's Offshore Casinos
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  • Namita Ghosh September 30, 2019
  • 2 Minutes Read

Despite being the engines behind India’s booming live poker scene, Goa’s offshore casinos continue to operate in uncertain waters. Under mounting pressure to remove the casino vessels from River Mandovi, the state government seems to be in haste to find an alternate location to relocate these casino boats before a more long-term land-based solution becomes possible.

Ports Minister Michael Lobo had made an important announcement last week where he said that Aguada Bay was being explored as a possible location for relocating offshore casinos.

Taking a step in this direction, the government has tasked the Captain of Ports (CoP) to inspect possible locations in Aguada Bay for moving offshore casinos. While this is likely a temporary measure before the Mopa airport project that is being envisioned as the future venue for the casinos is completed, the burning issue doing the rounds in Goa is – is Aguada Bay an appropriate location to relocate offshore? Moreover, the timing of this announcement came at exactly the same time the deadline for moving the casinos out of Mandovi River was to expire, i.e., September 30.

Apparently, the chief opposition party in Goa, Congress, has in its official statement, vociferously opposed the move. Citing environmental and social reasons, the party has declared that it will go to any extent to fight the relocation of the offshore casinos to Aguada Bay.

Amid all the political turmoil, the state government has directed all gaming operations at casinos to remain closed on October 2 that is observed as Gandhi Jayanti.

 

Aguada Bay – The Correct Alternative to Mandovi?

Last weekend, State Port minister Michael Lobo had promised that his department would be inspecting Aguada Bay for a suitable location for shifting offshore casinos within three days. This came in at the same time when the deadline for casinos to operate on Mandovi was to expire. While the deadline was to expire on September 30, 2019, the State Cabinet had little choice but to extend the permission for another six months, i.e., till March 31, 2020.

Michael Lobo
Michael Lobo

Aguada, like some parts of Goa, has a rich historical past and is known to have been frequented by the Portuguese trade and military ships who came for accessing the water supply of the Aguada fort water reservoir located in Sinquerim beach village. The Aguada Bay is situated on the outskirts of Panaji, where Mandovi meets the sea. Along this stretch in North Goa are famous beaches like Candolim, Calangute, Baga, and Anjuna, etc.

Lobo happens to be a legislator from the Calangute assembly constituency and has expressed willingness to get these offshore casinos shifted to his constituency. “The casinos generate a lot of revenue and jobs. I would not mind them being shifted to my constituency,” Lobo has been reported as saying in the past.

Calungate Beach
Calungate Beach

Incidentally, Aguada Bay is also the area where the MV Lucky Seven got stranded on a sandbar near the Miramar beach in 2017. The casino was stuck for several months before being towed out for repairs.

The CoP will soon initiate an inspection of possible locations at Aguada for this purpose, while also checking if it is safe for feeder boats to ferry tourists to the casinos.

Congress Opposes Move to Aguada Bay

The Goa Congress has reacted sharply to the government’s announcement of the possible relocation of offshore casinos to the Aguada Bay area. According to the party leaders, that area is frequented by humpback dolphins and is one of the few serene stretches of the sea on Goa’s coastline.

State Congress spokesperson, Agnelo Fernandes told reporters, “We strongly condemn the state government’s proposal to relocate the offshore casinos in the Mandovi river to the Aguada bay. The area is home to the dolphin species, which will be put at risk if the casinos are shifted there.

Agnelo Fernandes
Agnelo Fernandes

Fernandes, who runs a resort in Candolim, further added, “Foreigners will not come to Goa for this type of tourism. It would destroy the foreign tourist sector completely.”

He added, “The tourism belt is already suffering due to social evils like prostitution and drugs. We don’t want that to mushroom in the guise of casinos.”

While the BJP presently seems adamant on exploring Aguada Bay as a reliable alternative to River Mandovi, with Congress taking such a forceful stand on the issue, things may not move ahead so smoothly for the government.

Moreover, like in the previous years, the state government has asked all casinos to remain closed on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. The same will be applicable from 12 am on October 1 for 24 hours.

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