PANJIM: Hours before the four-day annual wine and lifestyle festival – Grape Escapade – could commence, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) stayed the event following a complaint that the function is being held at Dayanand Bandodkar ground without CRZ clearance.

The NGT, Western Zone Bench, issued notices to the State government authorities including the organisers Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) and CRZ regulating authority Goa Coastal Zone Management (GCZMA), which are returnable by May 12.

Yet, the Grape Escapade opened, as the government is yet to receive the order, with Tourism Minister Manohar (Babu) Azgaonkar saying it has provided a platform for local entrepreneurs to share their expertise, display products, engage in B2B.

Applicant Kashinath Shetye pointed out before the tribunal that GCZMA on April 19 granted CRZ permission to the festival and the same day revoked it.

“Despite the undertaking given by the Managing Director of GTDC not to organise any festival in violation of CRZ regulations, there is a move to organise Wine Festival at Campal football ground, an area falling in CRZ-II, in violation of CRZ notification 2011,” the applicant stated.

Accordingly, NGT comprising Justice U D Salvi and Dr P C Mishra, directed the GTDC and GCZMA to

 ‘enforce the effect of revocation of the permission granted to the festival named in the permission – Grape Escapade 2017 – till the GCZMA holds the meeting and takes appropriate decision in the matter’.

Earlier, the GCZMA and GTDC in their submission before the Tribunal said that ‘no permission is required for organising any festival under CRZ notification, 2011 in CRZ II area and therefore, there is no violation of undertaking given by GTDC’.

GTDC had assured the tribunal in an affidavit, in response to a similar complaint by Shetye against the wine festival in 2015, that no festival would be held without GCZMA’s permission. In 2015, the four day event was reduced to three days, after NGT objected to holding the wine festival on Republic Day asking the government to observe it as a dry day.

Later on Thursday, GTDC Chairman Nilesh Cabral slammed the petitioner for misleading the court stating that holding an event on Campal ground does not require CRZ permission. 

“He (petitioner) has clearly mentioned that wine festival is being held in the area falling in CRZ-II. The CRZ definition is clearly mentioned in the 2011 notification. Either he is not conversant with the CRZ-II or is trying to waste the time of the court and the government,” he said, clarifying that government has not been served the NGT order copy. 

Cabral, holding a print out of the order copy which was circulated on social media, alleged that the attempt to stall the festival is just unnecessary hype. “There is an attempt to create an atmosphere to stop the government function and show how powerful he is,” he said referring to Shetye. 

Cabral, however, surprisingly maintained that NGT has not put a stay on the festival citing an extract from the order copy that reads, which directs to enforce the effect of revocation of the permission granted to the festival till GCZMA holds the meeting and takes appropriate action. This prima facie means that the effect of revocation of permission would be that he festival cannot be held.