Team Herald
PANJIM: To bring in ease of doing business (EODB) the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has done away with the submission of many documents, including the no objection certificate (NOC) from local bodies. It has also ensured that the time taken to decide on fresh applications to get clearance will be further reduced.
Speaking to Herald the Chairman of the GSPCB Mahesh Patil said, “This decision has been taken for all industries. There are three categories green, orange, and red. For green industries, there will be no inspection. Also, earlier, the number of documents which they were supposed to submit with the application was 13 which has now been reduced to six.”
He further added that for the orange category also we are going to follow the same norms, which are based on the polluter index.
“Only red category applications where pollution load is higher has to go through the technical advisory committee and it will normally take two months for getting a certificate,” said Mahesh Patil. For the green and orange categories the decision on the application will be taken within a fortnight.
He also emphasised that in all categories there will be auto-renewal of the certificate if they are following norms and if there is no complaint. For the green and orange categories, there is auto-renewal where the GSPCB does not inspect the premise, and consent is given based on previous monitoring by GSPCB.
The GSPCB has also done away with the inspection of green industries with the consent given on the basis of a self-attested declaration.
Reacting to this development the President of the Goa State Industries Association (GSIA) Damodar Kochkar told Herald that, “It is a very encouraging and welcome move by the GSPCB. However, this kind of improvement needs to be done in all the departments. Since the GSPCB has started the Goa Industries Development Corporation (GIDC) also needs to take the lead and do away with many norms which are not important. If such steps are taken then ease of doing business will set in and industries will come to Goa which will ultimately generate more jobs and revenue in the State.”
The GCCI also welcomed the decision. “The processes of getting the NOCs were cumbersome and time-consuming. GCCI had represented to the government to do away with these complicated processes,” said the President of GCCI Ralph De Sousa.
He said “Thanks to the Chief Minister, Environment Minister, Secretary Environment, Chairman of GSPCB and the Member Secretary for this excellent initiative,” said the President of GCCI Ralph De Sousa.
He further added in his statement that one more major welcome change is the auto-renewal facility and acceptance of self-attested certificates. “GCCI requests that other departments take a cue from these and make similar changes in their procedures to bring in ease of doing business,” the GCCI President added.