Colva: It's literally a tale of two kinds of shacks in the Salcete coastal belt. Ockhi cyclone has caused a rise in sea level with water surging past shacks on the shore, leaving several of them marooned.
Operators, who built their shacks using the seashore as a foundation, have suffered damages with the surging water levels eroding the sand away, while those who built their shacks on stilts are conducting roaring business.
Rosario Silva Monteiro from Mobor, Cavelossim, witnessed his shack bearing the brunt. The shack has been reduced to a skeleton structure. "The wind has started blowing. This is the biggest worry. The loss I have had to bear is daily business of Rs 25,000 on an average, and it has been three days now. Secondly, it will cost me another Rs 1.5 lakh to set up the shack again," he said.
Mario Cardozo also echoes similar sentiments while pointing to stone (kaddapa) slabs, thatched umbrellas, beach beds besides chairs, tables and vessels which he removed from the shacks and deposited behind his structure where the water level has not reached.
Among those who built their shacks on stilts is Roger Fernandes in Benaulim. "Business is open, but it is like playing with the lives of the tourists. As of now, the wind has picked up speed and the sky is overcast and I intend closing my shack," he said.
A shack owner said that a section of foreign tourists were enjoying water lapping at their feet, although he admitted that the situation is one of concern. Audrey Scott, an English tourist, said, "I have been coming to Goa during this time of the season for many years now, but this is a new experience and with the wind picking up, it looks bad."
Some tourists were seen frolicking in the sea in the coastal belt of Salcete. Drishti lifeguards said that they cautioned tourists who promised not to venture deep into the choppy sea. Lifeguards in Zalor, Carmona, rescued an Olive Ridley turtle which washed ashore and released it back into the sea. At Sernabatim, a shack owner, took advantage of the rapid movement of the waves and released toilet sewage into the sea. Colva beach was almost deserted.
Operators, who built their shacks using the seashore as a foundation, have suffered damages with the surging water levels eroding the sand away, while those who built their shacks on stilts are conducting roaring business.
Rosario Silva Monteiro from Mobor, Cavelossim, witnessed his shack bearing the brunt. The shack has been reduced to a skeleton structure. "The wind has started blowing. This is the biggest worry. The loss I have had to bear is daily business of Rs 25,000 on an average, and it has been three days now. Secondly, it will cost me another Rs 1.5 lakh to set up the shack again," he said.
Mario Cardozo also echoes similar sentiments while pointing to stone (kaddapa) slabs, thatched umbrellas, beach beds besides chairs, tables and vessels which he removed from the shacks and deposited behind his structure where the water level has not reached.
Among those who built their shacks on stilts is Roger Fernandes in Benaulim. "Business is open, but it is like playing with the lives of the tourists. As of now, the wind has picked up speed and the sky is overcast and I intend closing my shack," he said.
A shack owner said that a section of foreign tourists were enjoying water lapping at their feet, although he admitted that the situation is one of concern. Audrey Scott, an English tourist, said, "I have been coming to Goa during this time of the season for many years now, but this is a new experience and with the wind picking up, it looks bad."
Some tourists were seen frolicking in the sea in the coastal belt of Salcete. Drishti lifeguards said that they cautioned tourists who promised not to venture deep into the choppy sea. Lifeguards in Zalor, Carmona, rescued an Olive Ridley turtle which washed ashore and released it back into the sea. At Sernabatim, a shack owner, took advantage of the rapid movement of the waves and released toilet sewage into the sea. Colva beach was almost deserted.
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