Getting very worried now, is this happening because it is the end of season? or do you think they will close lots of shacks during peak time ( Jan,feb)

I am definetly going to hold on and book nearer to the time.

Agree with Yummy Mummy - anyone know what is likely to happen next year? I know none of us have crystal balls but anyone got a guess?

In the local paper the Herald (29/04) it reported the Bombay High Court at Goa has directed that the police inspectors of the police stations concerned, the chief electrical engineer and the local panchayats concerned, to give an undertaking to the Court stating that they would not allow illegal shacks and deck beds on the beaches. The Court does not want any repetition of 2007.

So if everyone gives an undertaking and abides by the ruling then it looks like there will be fewer shacks and beds on the beaches for the season 2008/9.

If it does happen then it must be good news. Any shacks that are built can not then be hauled down on a whim. A sensible move would be to make sure the situation is monitored for the court. I don't know what it was like at the peak times but at end of March/beginning April there were hundreds and hundreds of unused sunbeds on the beach.

I do think it is wise to limit the beds, walking down the beach at Baga was becoming a nightmare. If there are going to be less Brits' and there and more Indians (who seem to prefer walking) why not. I've never seen a situation where ALL beach huts and beds have been full. Whether the standard of food can be maintained is another thing.

What I don`t understand about the whole thing is that some of the shack owners say they paid the panchayat a certain fee and had the reciepts to prove it, but on the other hand they had to pay someone else also ?? some of them paid a lot of money to one department only to have their shacks wrecked for not paying the others Totally confused by some of the stuff I have read, there seems to be a double payment system in play here, surely to save confusion the fees should be a one off to the department which grants the license I`m even more confused now lol

Ive spoken to anthony from Claudina`s and he said that the shacks will all be up again next season and did`nt think there would be any problem

What I cant understand is that the shack owners were told a couple of days before the police were due and they only had 10 sunbeds out,but the day the police were due they put more beds out. If your shack is illegal then you must know that your not going to get away with it and start taking your shack down with none of the aggro before the authorities come.
What upset most people was the way it was done,there were children at the shacks and they were very upset and it was very intimidating for adults as well.
A week later we were at Bonos shack and he had 5 sets out for 2 days and so did Waga manas next door, the beds were behind the line they were given on the beach and the same official in the white hat told both shacks to take their beds backs even further, because the boys at Waga manas didn't get the palm umbrellas out of the sand fast enough the wrecking crew started hacking at the poles with machetes and axes. The same nearly happened at Bonos except one of his dogs wasn't having it and nearly went for one of them and my O/H was trying to drag the dog away in case he got a swipe from a machete.
This was a case of he couldn't touch the shacks but he'll flex his muscle anyway and move the beds back even further

Leetina that is so horrible and as you say intimidating and probably very frightening for the locals, tourists and little children. Its situations like this that are making people fed up with Goa.

The shack problem is not going to help the tourist industry. Don't the politicians know they are
loosing all their trade to other countries.
sunbeds please in moderation.
Does anybody know if Drop Inn, and Bayview shacks were affected

Got home Monday night after 2 weeks in Candolim. (Still a bit jet lagged as straight back to work Tues) Ganesh (thank goodness) was open until the last charter flight left on Tues and he was busy right to the end. One day (can't remember which) the army & police came on to the beach in (around 30 of them plus a team of wreckers with machetes and sticks) One of the other shack owners gave Ganesh a tip off that they were on their way and we all helped carry in the extra beds and took down the sunshades over the 10 "legal" ones. Apparently they're only allowed to have umbrellas. They didn't do anything to Ganesh's shack but they did hack down the remains of an empty, illegal one, further up the beach at Sinquerim. It was quite intimidating to see such a show of force. When we arrived on the 14th there weren't very many shacks left but I know a lot of them close around the middle of April.The police action was very heavy handed but I wonder why they waited to right near the end of the season to do this? We didn't see them again but I believe they continued at Calangute and Baga. Ganesh said the big hotels want to operate the shacks and don't want the current shack owners on the beach. He also said that there was talk of allowing the shacks to open but with no sunbeds or umbrellas!! Well, I can only hope that the local Goan shack owners stick together, the authorities see sense and the local shacks are back next season. The beach shacks are what make our holiday. Where else would you get such personal service and great fresh food right on the beach. It would be a terrible shame if these guys lose their only form of income and it would affect their whole family. Ganesh is being positive about the future so we can only wait and see.