https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/after-ockhi-supermoon-shack-owners-body-pegs-losses-at-rs-70l/articleshow/62003499.cms
Asserting that nearly 50% of the beachside shacks in Goa suffered because of the combined force of cyclone Ockhi and the supermoon effect, the Shack Owners Welfare Society (SOWS) estimates the losses suffered by the shack operators at around Rs 70 lakh. While shack owners rued the lack of a warning mechanism, they also agreed that shacks had been set up too close to the waterline.
SOWS met in the capital on Saturday to take stock of the losses suffered by their members. Of the 350-odd shacks operating in the state, 320 shack operators are members of the society.
Though the association refrained from directly blaming the state government, they did say that if the state had a proper warning mechanism and a disaster response team in place, the damage caused to shacks would have been at a lower extent.
“We didn’t get any message from the government warning us about the supermoon or the effect of the cyclone,” SOWS president Cruz Cardoz said. “If there was a message or a warning, then 50% of the shacks that got damaged could have been saved.”
Shack operators said that at the time of the incident, not a single police official or government official was present, thus indicating that the state administration had been caught unaware. Shack owners who were present for the meeting estimate that individual losses were between Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 6.84 lakh.
“It was a natural calamity and the government was totally unprepared for this. We were left at the mercy of nature because there was no response from the government side. No police personnel or government official was on the beach when the water rose,” SOWS vice president Seby Fernandes said.
SOWS met in the capital on Saturday to take stock of the losses suffered by their members. Of the 350-odd shacks operating in the state, 320 shack operators are members of the society.
Though the association refrained from directly blaming the state government, they did say that if the state had a proper warning mechanism and a disaster response team in place, the damage caused to shacks would have been at a lower extent.
“We didn’t get any message from the government warning us about the supermoon or the effect of the cyclone,” SOWS president Cruz Cardoz said. “If there was a message or a warning, then 50% of the shacks that got damaged could have been saved.”
Shack operators said that at the time of the incident, not a single police official or government official was present, thus indicating that the state administration had been caught unaware. Shack owners who were present for the meeting estimate that individual losses were between Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 6.84 lakh.
“It was a natural calamity and the government was totally unprepared for this. We were left at the mercy of nature because there was no response from the government side. No police personnel or government official was on the beach when the water rose,” SOWS vice president Seby Fernandes said.
SOWS urged the government to compensate all the shack owners for their losses, especially those whose shacks were completely destroyed. “They must be compensated on priority because if the government waits to follow their procedure then the tourist season will be over,” Fernandes said.The December 3 havoc appears to have caused deep introspection among the shack owners who felt that unnecessary competition was driving more and more shack operators to set up their premises closer to the waterline.