Offshore casinos should not be allowed to operate on more than one river in Goa, the Indian Congress said last month, amid news that a leading casino promoter is considering relocating one of its three casinos in line with Congress’ preferences.
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"We do not want the evil of casinos to spread to other parts of the state. They should be in the Mandovi (a river off Panaji) or out of Goa," party spokesperson Reginaldo Lourenco told the media.
His comments come on a day when a leading national daily quoted Goa's casino promoter Jaydev Mody as saying that his firm was on the look-out for a new site for a recently acquired casino vessel.
"At the request of the Goa government and with a view to support it in its quest to reduce operations of casino ships in Mandovi, we have agreed to move the vessel out to another river in Goa. We will now work closely with the authorities to find a suitable location," Mody said.
Lourenco now claims that the Congress state committee will meet and formally pass a resolution on the casino relocation issue. "We are going to oppose it come what may," the Congress spokesperson said. Four years ago, another casino which had dropped anchor in the Sal river in South Goa had to be relocated to Mandovi, off Panaji, following public protests against offshore casino operations.
The National Green Tribunal has told the state government not to allow any new casinos in Mandovi, pending testing of the river water for pollutants emitted by casino vessels. There are presently five offshore casinos in the Mandovi river, out of which four are functional. Green groups have pushed for the large casino vessels to be moved from the river to offshore locations.
