NGT slaps fine of Rs 1 cr on Goa coastal body

PANAJI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) to deposit an interim environmental compensation of Rs 1 crore for the failing to act against illegal structures built at beaches which have been identified as turtle nesting sites for sea turtles.

The green court said, the amount has to be deposited with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) within a week.

In February, the tribunal asked the Goa State Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) to take action against the temporary structures built in the No-Development Zone of Morzim, Mandrem, Galgibaga and Agonda, including the turtle nesting sites.

The NGT passed this order after observing that the report given by GCZMA in November 2017 before it was ‘seriously desired’ in compliance with the instructions. It also noted that the ‘table filed along with the report demonstrated gross non-compliance’, the NGT bench of Justice S P Wangdi, K Ramakrishnan and Dr Nagin Nanda observed. “It is needless to reiterate that the order was passed as far back as on November 2, 2017 which was required to be complied with expeditiously considering the serious environmental issues which had been raised in the application,” the tribunal’s principal bench stated in its May 1 order.  It had also directed the coastal regulator to strictly enforce recommendations made by the forest department for conservation of turtle nesting sites in the report.