Goa is not burning at midnight because of culture, tourism or nightlife. Goa is burning because of silence, complicity and selective blindness. And that silence, finally, must be broken by the man who holds the highest executive authority in the state – Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant.
Chief Minister, this is not an article written in anger alone. It is written in anguish. It is written in memory of lives lost, warnings ignored, laws mocked and a system that has collapsed under the weight of greed.
Till about 2020, Goa had roughly 20 nightclubs. Most were brick-and-mortar structures, visible, identifiable, and at least theoretically accountable. They were limited in number, their locations were known, and their excesses – though troubling – were manageable.
Then something changed. Overnight, Goa did not just see growth; it saw an explosion. From 20 nightclubs, the number ballooned to over 200. Two hundred. Let that sink in. And these were not just nightclubs – they were illegal nightclubs, many operating under the convenient disguise of “private shacks”, “temporary structures”, or “event spaces”.
Chief Minister, this did not happen in the dark. This happened under floodlights, DJ consoles and laser beams – all powered by permissions, silence, and protection.
Who allowed this explosion?
Who benefitted from it?
And why did your government look the other way?
Nightclubs came up without Occupancy Certificates. Licences were issued without site inspections. Fire safety norms were treated as optional. Crowd capacities were invented on paper while bodies packed inside far exceeded any rational limit. Rent-seeking became the norm, not the exception. Monthly payments replaced rule of law.
This was not an accident. This was a system.
Panchayats – meant to protect local interest – allowed nightclubs to function in No Development Zones. How does a village body permit a nightclub in an NDZ without political backing? Is ignorance now the official defence, or was permission purchased with influence and inducements?
The Town and Country Planning Department, entrusted with safeguarding Goa’s planning integrity, conveniently overlooked blatant violations of the National Building Code. Fire exits disappeared. Structural norms were diluted. Load-bearing calculations were ignored. Was TCP asleep, or was it deliberately sedated?
And then came the most cynical innovation of all.
To stay within the “letter” of the law while brutally violating its spirit, nightclub owners reinvented illegality. Brick and mortar gave way to bamboo. Concrete walls were replaced with wooden sheets. Thatched roofs and grass were used not as cultural aesthetics, but as legal camouflage. Temporary structures, they claimed. Eco-friendly, they positioned it as.
Chief Minister, let us be honest. This was not sustainability. This was strategy.
By using bamboo, wood and thatch, these establishments qualified as “temporary” structures in Coastal Regulation Zones and eco-sensitive areas. CRZ laws were mocked. Environmental protections were ridiculed. What could not be built legally was erected overnight in the name of impermanence – though everyone knew these structures were anything but temporary.
Did no officer question why a “temporary” structure needed industrial-grade sound systems, heavy electrical wiring, multiple bars and thousands of patrons?
Did no department wonder why a shack required bouncers, valet parking and VIP enclosures?
Or was everyone too busy collecting their share?
Chief Minister, governance is not about plausible deniability. It is about accountability.
You cannot claim ignorance when over 200 nightclubs mushroom across the state. You cannot distance yourself when deaths occur due to structural violations and fire hazards that were obvious to anyone with eyes.
This is not about nightlife versus culture. This is not about tourism versus tradition. This is about law versus lawlessness.
When licences are granted without scrutiny, someone signs on the dotted line. When fire NOCs are issued, someone stamps approval. When police turn a blind eye to overcrowding, someone gives instructions — spoken or unspoken.
Who are these people?
Why have they not been named?
Why have they not been suspended?
Why have they not been prosecuted?
Every tragedy in Goa linked to illegal nightlife carries a long paper trail. Files do not move on their own. Permissions do not grant themselves. Violations do not become invisible without human intervention.
Chief Minister, the people of Goa are not asking for scapegoats. They are asking for answers.
Why were nightclubs allowed to operate without Occupancy Certificates?
Why were NDZ and CRZ norms treated as inconveniences rather than constitutional safeguards?
Why did enforcement always arrive after tragedy, never before?
And most importantly – why does it appear that the law in Goa bends differently for those with money, influence and connections?
You often speak of good governance. This is the moment to demonstrate it. Not through statements. Not through temporary closures. But through a systemic purge.
In the audit of every nightclub operating since 2020. Publish the list of licences, NOCs, OC statuses and structural approvals. Name the officers who cleared them. Fix responsibility not just on owners, but on enablers within the system.
Because Chief Minister, what is at stake is not Goa’s image. It is Goa’s soul.
Goa cannot become a free-for-all zone where laws are negotiable and safety is expendable. Goa cannot be reduced to a marketplace where silence is bought monthly and accountability is postponed indefinitely.
If over 200 illegal nightclubs could rise in four years, it means the system did not fail – it collaborated. And collaboration without consequence is corruption.
The people of Goa are watching. The families of victims are waiting. History will remember whether you chose to defend the indefensible – or dismantle it.
The question is simple, Chief Minister.
Will you act against those in the government system or will you continue to look away while Goa burns at midnight?
