Goa nightclub fire: ‘Landowner’ claims officials quietly changed property status

Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar, claiming to be the original owner of land where the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub burned, alleges unauthorized conversion of his property from salt pan to settlement zone, amid a 21-year legal battle over ownership in North Goa

Panaji: A man, who claims to be the original owner of the land on which fire-ravaged ‘Birch by Romeo Lane’ stood, has alleged that a portion of his property was converted from a salt pan to a settlement zone without his knowledge, to benefit the club.

Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar said he had signed a sale agreement with Surinder Kumar Khosla in 2004, but it was withdrawn within six months as he did not receive the payment. Kholsa set up a nightclub on the land, and it was later taken over by Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, owners of Birch by Romeo Lane.

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A blaze swept through the nightclub at Arpora village in North Goa around midnight on December 6, killing 25 persons, most of them staff and a few tourists.

Amonkar said he is fighting a court battle against Khosla over the land.

“For 21 years, I have been fighting in courts to get back my land in Arpora, which has been wrongfully occupied,” he said.

While the case is proceeding, Amonkar said he has now learnt about a new development. “The government quietly changed the zoning of my land without informing me,” he said.

Amid the ongoing litigation, he said no notice was served to him concerning the zone change.

The status of the place where the nightclub was built has been changed to a settlement zone, he claimed. “How can a salt pan be converted into a settlement zone,” he asked.

Amonkar said he discovered the “zone change” on Thursday while preparing documents to move the high court against the club in connection with the fire tragedy.

A senior Goa Town and Country Planning official said that since an inquiry into this matter is underway, it would not be appropriate for them to respond to Amonkar’s allegations at this stage.