TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority has rejected the proposal for construction of a marine slipway for docking of barges, boats and tugs in Vagurbem village, Ponda.
The proposal had been sent back to the GCZMA by the National Green Tribunal with directions that “this application should be disposed of based on its merits. The Tribunal has also directed that an amount of Rs 1,50,000, which the applicant deposited, has to be utilized to restore the geological and ecological loss caused to the area.
According to the minutes, the authority “after going through the records observed that grave ecological and geological damage has been caused by the applicant, which on one hand is required to remediate.”
Members also felt that although the present proposal is for construction of marine slipway for a dry dock (normally permissible); allowing it would cause irreparable damage to the already fragile hilly terrain; and “in fact the applicant has already caused extensive damage by undertaking unauthorized hill cutting thereby causing destruction to the environment, granting permission would be detrimental to the ecology.
In another matter, the authority has also cleared the construction of changing rooms and toilets in Candolim by Tourism Department as well as the construction of toilet complex at Baga beach.
