Goa nightclub fire: Panchayat secy colluded, cops didn’t act on plaints, finds probe

Panaji: The magisterial inquiry into the inferno at nightclub Birch by Romeo Lane in Arpora, that killed 25 persons on Dec 6, found that it was not sealed by the panchayat secretary despite a demolition order against the structure and even though the nightclub’s licence expired in 2024.The report, released on Wednesday, said that panchayat officials colluded with the owners of Birch, while there were lapses on the part of multiple state departments which issued NOCs without verifying the nightclub’s documents that were forged.The magisterial inquiry report, which was reviewed by chief minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday, said that local police closed a number of complaints of noise pollution against Birch with the report that “nothing was found on spot”.“The establishment licence was issued by Arpora-Nagao panchayat on Dec 16, 2023, to ‘Being GS Hospitality Goa Arpora LLP’ for running business of bar & restaurant cum nightclub. The licence was valid till March 31, 2024, after which it was not renewed to date. The Birch did not have a valid licence to run a restaurant or any other activity in the said premises. The premises continued to run illegally without a valid trade licence and no action was taken by the panchayat to seal the property,” the magisterial inquiry said.The panchayat didn’t even inform other departments to cancel NOCs, permissions, and licences issued to Birch. The panchayat secretary and sarpanch admitted to this lapse, said the report, “which establishes their collusion with the owners of this property in keeping the restaurant running illegally, thereby violating the conduct rules”. The report also states that the application by Birch seeking a trade licence also shows “visible signs of forgery”, with some of the details written “in a different ink and in free space in the documents at a later time”.The inquiry also found that a house number was created purposefully without following procedures.“During the field visit to the adjoining property, the committee was able to identify H No. RT1-RT7 as being on the third floor of the restaurant block of 502/1. However, H No 502/1-RT8 was not found to be situated in the entire premises of the survey No. 158/0. This indicates not only a faulty method of allocation of the house number but purposefully creating house numbers without due procedures,” the magisterial inquiry states.The committee found that sarpanch Roshan Redkar gave a statement saying that it was the secretary’s responsibility to check the documents. “This confirms that the sarpanch shirked off and evaded any responsibility of verifying the documents,” said the report.The panchayat also issued trade licences to the adjoining Maizon Lake View Resort, belonging to Surinder Khosla, for structures (13 shops), including issuing an NOC to obtain water and electricity connections. These structures were found constructed in a salt pan, paddy field, and sluice gate, in revenue records.“Therefore, a house number could not have been issued to these structures as they did not have any construction licence or occupancy certificate. Despite this, pursuant to Khosla’s application dated Aug 27, 2022, not only were house numbers given, but also trade licences were issued to these illegal structures. The panchayat, knowing fully well that these shops are recent constructions on a salt pan, went ahead and issued house numbers as well as trade licences to these illegal properties,” said the magisterial report.The illegal construction was found to have taken root in 1996-98, carried out by the previous owners, with no efforts to date to change the use of the land from agricultural to non-agricultural use.“It is observed that the revised sketch depicts the hexagonal structure at the middle of the salt pan/water body. This clearly establishes that the structure is situated at the middle of the salt pan/water body, which is not permissible to be erected under any law in force either now or earlier. Converting salt pan is in violation of Section 32 of Land Revenue Code as well as Coastal Zone Regulations,” the inquiry report stated.Therefore, the structures erected in the property surveyed under survey number 158/0 and 159/0 of Arpora in Bardez taluka are illegal ab initio, states the report.