Not-so-Lucky 7 is newest addition to the fleet
One of India’s controversial casino boats went aground on a sandbar July 9, forcing the rescue of four of the vessel’s 19 crew members. The incident, which resulted in one injury, sparked a renewed outcry against the fleet of six boats on the Mandovi River, which many residents oppose and many politicians have pledged—many times—to relocate.
According to the Times of India, the ship, MV Lucky 7, was being towed from Mormugao Harbor to the Mandovi in Panaji where it anchors.
“The vessel got stuck in the Aguada sandbar off the Miramar coast. We received a call to rescue the crew members who were in distress,” said Manoj Badkar, deputy inspector general of the Coast Guard.
MV Lucky 7 is the sixth offshore casino boat permitted by the state government to operate in the Mandovi—against the wishes of many locals who say the vessels disrupt local fisheries and shipping channels and are a corrupting influence on their patrons and the community.
The government of Goa, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, has promised numerous times in the past two years to relocate the ships. In the aftermath of the grounding, the opposition Congress is demanding that the owner of the vessel be arrested immediately.
“Nature stopped the unholy designs of the Goa government to bring yet another casino to Goa,” proclaimed All India Congress Committee Secretary Girish Chodankar. “The BJP played with the lives of the crew onboard the vessel.”
Tourism Minister Babu Azgaonkar ordered an investigation of the incident, but Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar declined to comment beyond saying that guidelines on casinos will be disclosed soon. “Based on these guidelines, a policy will be brought out,” Parrikar said.
TheNavhind Times reports that Minister for Town and Country Planning Vijai Sardesai has considered moving casino vessels out of the Mandovi and onto land, but there’s no such proposal at the government level. The publication cited “highly-placed sources in the government” who said that there is currently no proposal in play to move the offshore casinos to land.
