Large portion of Curlies night club in Goa bulldozed

Panaji, Sep 9 (IANS) Even as the Supreme Court stayed the demolition of one particular survey number of Curlies night club and restaurant on Goa's Anjuna beach, the demolition squad razed the other portions of Curlies on Friday. The demolition process was on till late on Friday evening.

The Supreme Court bench had directed the restaurant owner to suspend commercial operation till further orders, adding that if there is unauthorised construction in lands other than the survey number, where it stayed the demolition, the demolition drive can certainly go on.

After the Supreme Court order, the razing process had halted in the said survey number of Curlies restaurant, which has been linked to the death of Haryana BJP leader Sonali Phogat as she was seen partying there on the night of her death.

Speaking on the demolition process, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that the demolition drive started in the morning and a large portion of Curlies has been demolished.

"We will not tolerate drugs and illegalities. We will go in detail in such cases and illegal structures will be demolished. The Supreme Court has given a stay on survey No. 42/10, hence it was demarcated and the rest of the structure (of Curlies) was demolished," Sawant told reporters here.

The authorities demolished the restaurant after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) upheld the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) order to demolish it.

The demolition squad began bulldozing the sea-facing area the restaurant at around 7.30 am on Friday. Later at 11.30 am, the process was stopped following the Supreme Court order, which stayed the demolition in one particular survey number.

"We got the NGT order on Thursday afternoon. They (authorities) came to demolish the structure within 24 hours, that too early in the morning. I have never heard about such (hurry). I had informed the collector that we have challenged the NGT order in the Supreme Court," said Gajanan Korgaonkar, the lawyer representing Curlies owner Linet Nunes.

Superintendent of Police (North), Shobit Saxena, who visited the demolition site, said that they had received an order from the government that the property was to be demolished and police support was sought for it.

"We have deputed the necessary staff to assist the demolition squad. We are here in a supportive role and to ensure that the demolition work proceeds smoothly," he said.