the goan I network
VASCO
Should the Ganesh Benzoplast Ltd (GBL) be accused of continuing operations after its Consent to Operate (CTO) licence had expired on November 30?
While there have been accusations that GBL has been operating illegally, information disclosed to The Goan has revealed that GBL had sought renewal of its CTO well in advance and even paid the renewal fees, but the file had been pending with a government agency for well over a month.
According to highly placed sources in GBL, the company realising that the CTO would expire, had already approached the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) and had applied for renewal of the CTO.
“The renewal fees were also paid to the GSPCB after submitting necessary documents sometime in the first week of November,” said the source.
However, permission from the GSPCB remained pending since then, the source added.
The source further added that the GSPCB had formed a Technical Adviosry Committee (TAC) which conducted a meeting with GBL officials only on Friday.
“The permission for renewal of CTO was placed before the TAC formed by the GSPCB, where necessary compliance reports were presented by GBL to the satisfaction of the TAC.”
“The TAC studied the application of GBL seeking the CTO pending before the GSPCB. However, the issue has now been politicised, the grant of CTO is likely to be delayed further,” the source added.
The issue came to the fore when four Mormugao Municipal councillors had filed a PIL in high court regarding the storage of naphtha in GBL tanks.
They had demanded that authorities ascertain if the naphtha has been stored at the authorised location and if there was necessary statutory permission to store the same.
“The high court has directed
the respondents to confirm if there is necessary statutory permission to store the naphtha. We have information that the GSPCB consent for storage of products has expired on November 30 and it has to be ascertained if they have valid consent or not,” Bandekar had earlier told The Goan.
Taking up the PIL, the high court had directed South Goa collector Ajit Roy to visit the spot where the naphtha has been stored, to ascertain if the naphtha has been stored at the authorised location and if there is necessary statutory permission to store the same.
The high court had also demanded an affidavit or in any case, a compilation of all permission on the basis of which the naphtha is being stored.
While submitting his report to the high court, the collector is reported to have stated that one permission from the GSPCB had expired and that, the GBL had applied for renewal of the permission. The collector confirmed that documents from other authorities were found to be in order.
