MV Leela, the casino vessel abandoned in river Mandovi, was towed to a dock in river Zuari on Wednesday morning by the ports administration department.
The vessel owned by former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda's firm Globe Hotels Pvt Ltd was anchored near the captain of ports jetty on the river front though its operations had stopped two years back. About five crew members were manning the vessel, as a minimal requirement under the rules.
It was the first operation of Pehlvan the recently-acquired tug by the ports administration, and took about four hours. "The tug with a 12 metric tonnes bollard pull towed the vessel on Wednesday," captain of ports James Braganza told TOI.
The tourism department had been issuing notices to the vessel owners since January 2013 under Section 6 of the Goa Tourist Places (Protection and Maintenance) Act, 2001.
The firm had been warned of forfeiture of the vessel in case it failed to comply with the notices. The last notice was issued in mid-June 2013, but it did not result in any action from the firm.
» Read Complete News.....(You need to login first to read complete news). New User? Register for FREE!
» Back to Travel News