the goan I network
PANAJI
The National Green Tribunal on Friday stayed the new shack policy of the Goa Tourism Department recently approved by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s cabinet on grounds that the Coastal Zone Management Plan for the State was yet to be finalised.
The order was passed by the NGT on a petition filed by Right to Information activist Kashinath Shetye, who alleged that the Goa government was going ahead with its shack policy despite not having finalised the CZMP pending since 2014.
The Goa government, which had filed a petition seeking a six-month extension to the deadline, has instead been granted only a three-month extension and has been asked to submit a finalized Coastal Zone Management Plan by November 15.
The decision has sent panic waves among the community of beach shack operators in the State but the government has moved swiftly to announce that it will file an affidavit before the National Green Tribunal seeking a relaxation given that shacks are purely temporary structures and that they are in place only for six to eight months a year.
“We will file an affidavit before the NGT stating that the shacks are completely temporary. We will assure the NGT that the CZMP will be finalized by November without any extensions and that pending the finalisation, the shacks should be allowed,” Calangute MLA Michael Lobo whose constituency is likely to be hardest hit by the order.
“Shacks are important to welcome tourists into the state. So that they can sit and enjoy the beaches. It offers employment to locals for those six months which they rely on to get by for the rest of the year,” Lobo said.
Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat too tweeted asking the Chief Minister to try and resolve the issue.
“The stay on [the] shack policy by [the] NGT will severely hit tourism in Goa. I urge [the] Goa CM Pramod Sawant to immediately act to explore alternate legal solutions to safeguard the interest of the State. Effective and timely decisions [are the] need of the hour,” Kamat tweeted.
The shack policy for the years 2019-2022 was approved by the cabinet last week with Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar claiming the government had also done the hard work of ensuring that the policy was approved by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority prior to it being placed before the cabinet.
Late last month the Government of Goa had filed an application before the National Green Tribunal seeking a further six months to finalise the Goa Coastal Zone Management Plan.
The government also noted that there was opposition from the public for the presentations and requests by all local bodies that they be allowed to prepare their own CZMP.
The plan, which is pending since 2014 has been delayed largely because of the absence of governance in Goa over the last two year first on account of Parrikar’s ill health and later because of political bickering among the allies as the BJP struggled to keep its government alive. The CZMP is the most notable casualty, of government’s inaction, yet.
