GSPCB chief yet to take charge as govt sits on notification

MAPUSA
More than a month after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant publicly announced the appointment of senior bureaucrat Levinson Martins as chairman of the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), the government is yet to issue the formal order, leaving the post effectively vacant.

The Board has been functioning under the temporary charge of the secretary (environment) for the last four months.

This arrangement began soon after the tenure of former chairman Mahesh Patil, who completed his three-year term in January 2025, and was given a short extension until April 4.

On the sidelines of the monsoon session of the Assembly last month, the Chief Minister had declared that Martins would succeed Patil and that a notification would follow shortly.

But officials admit privately that the order is caught in procedural limbo, as the Environment Ministry has been left unattended after Minister Aleixo Sequeira’s resignation last week. The portfolio is yet to be reassigned.

“Day-to-day functioning of the Board is unaffected since policy directions largely come from the Central Pollution Control Board,” an official told The Goan.

“However, reconstitution of the Board can only take place once both the chairman and member secretary are formally appointed,” he added.

The GSPCB is also awaiting the appointment of a Member Secretary.

At present, Sanjeev Joglekar is officiating, but sources said Geeta Nagvenkar tops the selection list and could be named to the post soon.

Martins, who most recently served as Commissioner of Labour and Employment, is no stranger to the GSPCB, having earlier worked as Member Secretary for six years.

He was shortlisted from a pool of eight applicants, which included outgoing chairman Mahesh Patil, Dipak Gaitonde, Ulhas Sawaikar, Pradip Sarmokadam, Ganesh Shetgaonkar, Nitin Wagh and Srinet Kothwale.

Until the government acts, however, the State’s top pollution watchdog remains in a holding pattern – with an appointee waiting in the wings but no official authority to take charge.