PANAJI
The National Green Tribunal has rejected a petition filed by the Goa Foundation to allow Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority more time to complete the Goa Coastal Zone Management Plan.
Goa Foundation had filed a petition seeking deletion of the deadline of August 31 that the NGT had set and instead allowing the GCZMA an additional six months to complete the exercise.
“Due to this (deadline), the Goa government only has less than two months to finalize the CZMP after the public hearing, instead of the 6 months permitted by law. Due to this, the Government is rushing to finalize the CZMP, leading yet again, to restrictions being imposed upon the citizens to put forth their views during the public hearing in complete violation of the procedure to be followed,” the Goa Foundation argued before the NGT.
Goa is one of the few States that is yet to complete the CZMP. The Goa Foundation also argued that the GCZMA needs to have adequate time to consider the amendments to the CZMP and then send all its recommendations to the NCSCM for incorporation in the CZMP.
"This work cannot be done by August 31 and the public should not be penalized by a hasty public hearing and a shoddy final job, merely because the State government didn't prepare the CZMP on time several years ago as it ought to have done,” the Goa Foundation argued.
However, the NGT didn’t buy the arguments and dismissed the appeal.
In the past it has been the Goa government seeking extension of the deadline, this time it is the activists.
Activists had lamented that GCZMA was taking advantage of the NGT order by trying to bulldoze its way with the public hearings as they did in Amona and Navelim in the mining cases.
As already reported, the GCZMA and the district administrations are planning to conduct a non-stop public hearings on the CZMP on July 8.
In South Goa, a massive pandal is being erected to accommodate the participants. The district Collector has also promised to tweak Section 144 of the CrPC and the SOPs on Covid protocols before the hearing scheduled on Thursday.
