Panaji: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) in a recent order has said that it fails to understand what the problem is with the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA), which has not yet uploaded the Goa Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) maps on a 1:4000 scale on the authority’s website. The National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) also told the tribunal that the GCZMA cannot raise objections to the CZMP at this stage, after the plan has been approved by the ministry.
The Goa state environment department has now sought 120 days to create an online unified single-window portal for all CRZ permissions, to which the NGT has agreed.
The matter will be heard next on March 28.
The NCSCM, in its counter affidavit filed on Jan 29 before the tribunal, said that the “GCZMA did not point out any discrepancy with respect to overlapping boundaries at villages and as per the scale of 1:4000, during the last six years of preparation of the CZMPs/CZM maps from April 2016 to Sep 2022, nor during the public hearing, nor during the 13th meeting of the Technical Scrutiny Committee held on Dec 4, 2021, nor during the 45th meeting of the NCZMA held in the ministry of environment, forest and climate change in New Delhi on Sep 1, 2022.”
The NCSCM said that the GCZMA also did not point out any such faults with the CZMP during the approval of the CZMP conveyed by the environment ministry on Sep 6, 2022.
The NCSCM said that the GCZMA cannot raise any objection now over the CZMP or on the CZM maps on a 1:4000 scale after recommending them to the NCZMA and after the environment ministry having approved it.
The NCSCM said that CZM maps on the 1:4000 scale, prepared based on the approved CZMP, have already been provided to GCZMA and that now the it may publish the same on the authority’s website.
“After going through the counter affidavit, we fail to understand as to what is the problem with respondent No.1 in uploading the CZM maps/CZMPs on 1:4000 scale on its website,” the NGT has said.
The tribunal said that as per its earlier order passed on Dec 18, 2024, Goa govt’s environment department had submitted an affidavit that the work order dated Aug 8, 2024, was issued to AHAsolar Technologies Limited for the development of a unified single window portal for accepting and processing approvals and permissions by the GCZMA.
The entire work was to be completed within 120 days i.e., before Dec 8, 2024, but that period has already elapsed, the tribunal noted. It has now agreed to provide the additional time of 120 days that is sought to complete the task of a unified single window portal.