The board of directors of the Goa tourism development corporation (GTDC) on Thursday decided to remove all encroachments from GTDC properties and take them up for development of tourism infrastructure.

They also decided to endorse a private initiative to launch Club Goa cards that will be sold to tourists and which will enable tourists to avail of discounts at approved establishments like restaurants, clubs, shops, etc.

Announcing this at a media briefing, tourism minister Dilip Parulekar said that the GTDC has already appointed an estate manager to remove encroachments from all its properties across Goa. The estate manager has powers like that of a civil court and his decision can only be challenged in the district court and later in the High Court. Even if affected parties go to court, the decision of the estate manager can be implemented within one year, Parulekar said.

The tourism minister said that till date, no government had dared to evict encroachers on tourism land and that the BJP government is firm. Responding to a question, Parulekar said that the tourism department will not bow down to pressure from BJP's coastal MLAs to defer the evictions.

Parulekar cited the example of Baga, where the GTDC has 52,000 square metres of land, and about 5,000 square metres has been encroached upon. GTDC properties have also been encroached on at Colva, Benaulim and other places, he said, stressing that chief ministerManohar Parrikar is firmly behind him on this.

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