MAPUSA
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has dismissed a petition challenging the strengthening and renovation of the existing bund from Nerul Bridge to Caculo House at Candolim, ruling that the project had received all statutory clearances and that no violation of environmental laws had been established.
The appeal was filed by the Calangute Constituency Forum against a Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) order that had discharged a stop-work notice issued to the Water Resources Department (WRD) over allegations of mangrove destruction and illegal widening of the bund.
In its judgment delivered on Monday, the NGT's Western Zone Bench upheld the GCZMA order, observing that the bund restoration was a permissible activity intended to protect khazan lands from saline water intrusion and restore damaged embankments.
The forum had alleged that the WRD expanded the bund beyond its traditional width through large-scale land filling, destroyed mangroves and river biodiversity, and used concrete structures in violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms.
It also contended that the widened bund would eventually facilitate vehicular traffic and benefit a nearby real estate project.
However, the tribunal found that the WRD had obtained all necessary permissions, including the GCZMA's clearance, before commencing the work. It also relied on official inspection reports showing that sections of the bund near Nerul Bridge were already around 10 metres wide before the project was taken up, contradicting the allegation that the existing 3.5-metre-wide bund had been widened.
The tribunal further referred to reports of the Goa State Biodiversity Board, which recognised the need to repair the breached bund to prevent tidal water from inundating agricultural fields.
While recommending that existing mangroves be protected and compensatory plantation undertaken wherever necessary, the Board had also supported restoration of the bund using environmentally appropriate measures.
The WRD submitted that the work involved strengthening the embankment, constructing toe walls, stone pitching, landscaping, sluice gate improvements and a pedestrian walkway. It denied destroying mangroves and clarified that the bund was not designed to function as a motorable road.
The NGT also noted that the GCZMA had imposed several safeguards while granting permission, including a ban on vehicular access, mandatory replantation of mangroves in consultation with the Goa State Biodiversity Board, maintenance of sluice gates, use of permeable paver blocks to minimise surface runoff and installation of only solar-powered streetlights.
Holding that the project was being executed in accordance with the approvals granted and that no environmental violations had been proved, the tribunal found no infirmity in the GCZMA's order and dismissed the appeal.
