PANAJI
The National Green Tribunal has upheld the order of the GCZMA which has directed the Zon Hotels Pvt Ltd, which owns and operates the Shrem Hotel to pay an amount of Rs 2.04 crore as damages caused to the environment with regard to the illegal construction within the CRZ zone at Candolim.
“The conduct of the Appellant (the hotel company) which is reflected from the pleadings, that the Appellant has been consistently violating the established norms and procedure of law and was very reluctant to remove illegal construction of the property, so much so that the Hon’ble High Court had to monitor the demolition regularly on various dates. We do not find any infirmity in the impugned order. Accordingly, this Appeal deserves to be rejected and is rejected,” the National Green Tribunal bench consisting of Dinesh Kumar Singh and Vijay Kulkarni said.
“The amount of which has been imposed upon to the Appellant by way of environmental compensation shall be deposited within a period of one month from the date of this order. If by that period, it is not deposited, an interest @ 12% per year would be chargeable till the time the same is realised,” the High Court also said.
The matter dates back to at least 2020 when the resort was found to have violated the CRZ regulations and had undertaken to demolish the structures but was resisting doing so.
The hotel has been repeatedly fined both by the High Court and the NGT for filing false affidavits, lying on oath in a bid to save its violations.
Most recently, the hotel was fined Rs 10-lakh for filing a false affidavit before the High Court which is currently also monitoring the demolition process.
