Two weeks after a fire at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub killed 25 people, including five tourists, in North Goa’s Arpora, prompting authorities to launch a crackdown against violations by clubs in the coastal belt, the government authorities on Friday sealed ‘Curlies’, the popular beachfront restaurant and bar in Anjuna.
Officials said the action was taken following alleged violations of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules. Curlies, a popular beach shack, had garnered controversy following the death of Haryana BJP leader and actor Sonali Phogat in 2022.
Phogat had visited Curlies with her personal assistant Sudhir Sangvan and his aide Sukhwinder Singh the night before her death on August 23, 2022. In a separate offence under the NDPS Act, the Goa police had arrested Edwin Nunes, the brother of Curlies owner Linet Nunes, after Methamphetamine, a psychostimulant drug allegedly given to Phogat, was found in the bathroom of the shack.
In June 2024, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) dismissed an appeal filed by the owner of Curlies restaurant, challenging a 2016 order of the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) to demolish its illegal structures for alleged violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms.
After the blaze in Arpora on December 6, the government had constituted five committees for alleged violations in the coastal belt. The administration on Tuesday had sealed three clubs in Anjuna and Vagator – Clara Beach Haven, Salud and Mayan Beach Club.
Officials said that while Salud and Mayan Beach Club did not have a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Directorate of Fire Services, Clara Beach Haven did not have a structural stability certificate. Earlier on Monday, the authorities sealed ‘The Cape Goa’, a hotel that had been operating under a temporary shack licence on the Cabo de Rama hill in South Goa.
The Indian Express had earlier reported that at least seven approvals were given by the local panchayat in Arpora and government departments to Birch by Romeo Lane allowing it to operate, which included trade, excise and food safety licences; a pollution body nod; and three no-objection certificates.
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