MARGAO
The oft-repeated question whether the exercise conducted on the Coastal Zone Management Plan is a public hearing or a public consultation came back to haunt the authorities and the participants on the SGPDA grounds on Thursday.
While speakers raised this question again and again, without any clarity or reply from the authorities, officials in the know informed that the speakers are deliberately raising the question of public consultation and public hearing to make the official reply to their queries at the hearing.
The question of the Presiding Authority at the South Goa hearing at the SGPDA ground also came to haunt the authorities, bringing to the fore whether any district official was designated as the Presiding authority at the hearing.
Officials pointed out that the exercises conducted under the EIA notification and CRZ notification have set guidelines on conducting exercises on the CZMPs. “The authorities seemed unclear on whether the CZMP exercise is a public hearing or a public consultation. That explains why the authorities could not clarify loud and clear that the ongoing exercise is a public hearing or a consultation exercise”, the official added.
Officials informed that the EIA notification has a clear provision of public consultation which has two components, one is the public hearing and the other consultation.
The official added that there is a detailed guideline for conducting the hearing at Appendix IV where the process, the responsibility, including the District Magistrate as the Presiding officer is outlined.
'In the CRZ notification, there's a provision for consultation as well as public hearing', the official said.
He, however, said that as per the Environment Protection Act, 1986, it is just accepting objections and suggestions in writing within 60 days, with no detailed guidelines for conducting the public hearing or clear provision as to who will preside the hearing.
