PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has directed all respondent authorities, including the Goa State Wetland Authority (GSWA), to file reply affidavits within three weeks in a PIL challenging the boundary demarcation and notification of the ancient Bondvol Lake at Santa Cruz. The matter will next be heard on October 14.
Environmental activists and residents Arturo Carlos D’Souza and Inacio Domnic Pereira have challenged the October 20, 2022, notification declaring the lake a protected wetland under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules.
The petition alleges serious scientific and procedural shortcomings in the demarcation. It contends that the GSWA restricted the core wetland to 75,894 sq m across Survey Nos. 143/1 and 144/1, instead of following the Maximum Water Mark Line or the high-flood-level envelope prescribed under MoEFCC guidelines.
The petitioners have sought a halt to boundary marking and construction approvals within 200 metres, pending a scientific reassessment by NEERI or TERI.
