PANJIM: The All Goa Private Shack Owners Association has warned to take to the streets if the State government fails to formulate the Private Beach Shack Policy before the onset of 2016-17 tourist season. The aggrieved tourism stakeholders have been demanding a separate policy for a period of five years. At a meeting attended by 400-odd members, the association resolved not to rest till the government meets their demand. “We are demanding regularisation of private shacks for which a policy should be formulated. It’s been four years but the government is not bothered about thousands of families dependent on this business,” association President Dharmesh Saglani said. The shack operators received a setback when the High Court of Bombay at Goa dismissed its plea that challenged the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) direction to Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) to revoke permissions issued to around 335 private shacks. The NGT directions came following GCZMA’s failure to comply with its earlier order to conduct sand dune mapping and beach carrying capacity of different beaches in the State. “Why should we bear the brunt for State government and Tourism Department’s negligence? Does ban of structures within 500 mtrs of shore apply only to private beach shacks? Why doesn’t it include temporary shacks on government property?” he asked. Saglani warned that 40,000 to 50,000 families dependent on this business will take to the streets if their demand is turned down this year as well. The Tourism Department had earlier this month decided to include the component of carrying capacity of beaches in their Tourism Master Plan after GCZMA submitted to the NGT that this task does not come in their domain. To regularize and monitor the operation of temporary tourism seasonal structures in private properties of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) areas, GCZMA directed the Tourism Department to frame a proper policy for effective management before the ensuing tourism season.