Will the ninth time be the charm for Indian residents demanding that the government move casino boats off the Mandovi River?
The answer to that question is a resounding “maybe.” Over the past five years, officials of the Indian state of Goa have pledged repeatedly to move the fleet of six offshore casinos. Eight times they have missed their own deadlines. Now they’re promising once again to find a new location for the boats, which Goans have said disrupt local fisheries, harm the coastal environment and compromise their quality of life.
Last week, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told the Goa legislative assembly that the latest deadline for casino relocation is September 30.
Panaji MLA Atanasio Monserrate, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party after leaving the Congress earlier this month, had said during his election campaign in May that the offshore casinos would be gone within 100 days if “people wanted.”
But nothing is set in stone until officials find a suitable site for the boats, which now operate off Panaji, said Sawant. “The government has decided to remove casinos out of the Mandovi River, but till today no alternate feasible site had been finalized,” the chief minister said. It’s the same tune sung by past administrations, which never followed through on their promises.
