PANAJI
A three-member panel of experts designated by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday inspected the footbridge and walkway being constructed along the the banks of the Mandovi river which a set of petitioners have challenged on grounds that it violates the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ).
The panel comprised of Suresh Kumar Adapa of the MoEF&CC, Arun Kumar of the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) Chennai and Radha B Rao the expert member of the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA).
The members interacted with officials of the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) besides some of the petitioners including ex-CCP councillor Patricia Pinto, Jack Sukhija, Runa Aggarwal, Laura Alvares, Arnaldo do Carmo Lobo and Vincent Barracho.
The panel was told that the bridge was being built in a CRZ-I area where no concrete construction is permitted under CRZ laws.
It was also being built without any prior permissions and its location at the mouth of the St Inez Creek will cause irreparable damage to the estuarine ecosystem, the panel was told.
There were some tense moments during the course of the inspection as a group of CCP councillors with a large crowd gathered there to voice support for the project.
