PANAJI
The State government has decided to appoint a senior counsel to represent Goa before the National Green Tribunal in future litigations.
The decision has been taken as the earlier unfavourable and difficult to implement orders came from NGT and advocates had failed to represent the State properly, Environment Minister Nilesh Cabral said.
Many environment-related litigations have been pending before the National Green Tribunal. The litigations regarding Coastal Zone Management Plan are also pending due to objections from NGOs who have challenged these plans.
"Earlier, the NGT had passed several strictures against the government. There has been a delay from the government side in filing the written replies. There have been strictures that the orders from NGT have not been properly followed by the Goa government. In view of this, the government has decided to appoint senior counsel to represent State", said Cabral.
It may be recalled that the NGT had recently fined the State for delay in filing its report.
