on the ground that the earlier clearance was a “typing error”, marks the lowest point this government’s bending over backwards to push a red category brewery project which the Investment Promotion Board has no mandate to pass.
What is ironical is that the politically controlled Goa Pollution Control Board, which is in no position to control political pollution, agrees the Vani Agro Farms Pvt Ltd brewery at Amdai is a red category project.
At a time when the PCB is continuing to permit blatant illegalities, Herald wishes to once again get to the point that this beer project is fundamentally not permissible. We therefore reproduce a vital section of the Fly on the Wall Column on Herald’s Edit page of January 3, headlined Goa’s Investment Board violates spirit of the Constitution and its own act, to say cheers to a beer factory in Sanguem” :
“Section 3 of the IPB Act 2014, states “The Pollution Control Board shall be one point contact authority for all investments made in the State which meet any or all of the criteria specified herein below: (a) Investment above Rs 5 crore. (b) Requirement of an area equal to or above 3000 square meters. (c) Industry Classified under the Orange Category as per the Goa State Pollution Control Board guidelines; or (d) Expansion of any Red Category Industry as classified under the Goa State Pollution Control Board guidelines referred to the Board by the Government.
Under Schedule VIII of the Ministry of Environment and Forests Classification of industries under Red, Orange & Green Categories, (please see under B (24) of list of industries under Red category) it mentions Fermentation industry including manufacture of yeast, beer etc.
The IPB notification clearing the Vani Agro Farms project in Sanguem classifies the project as ‘Green Field Grain based alcohol plant and brewery plant’. This clearly falls under B (24) of the MoEF guidelines which is followed by the Goa State Pollution Control Board i.e a Red industry. A red industry can be permitted under the IPB Act only if it is an “expansion” and not a green field project. Thus the IPB does not have the mandate to clear a red industry.
Therefore, there is no question of granting approval to a Red category project even under the garb of generating jobs. What is happening on the contrary is that it is not the Pollution Control Board which is laying down the law for a beer and brewery factory but the other way round. Is there a single instance where a beer factory has got a clearance for a certain amount of production of alcohol and then managed to get it revised with the pollution control board stating that the earlier amount cleared for production per month 26.50 litres was a typing error? It may well be a typing error and the clearance may have been far less than what the capacity of the plant is. But this was the right time not to revisit clearances but revisit the project itself.
Herald has extensively reported from ground zero on how the water supply from the Uguem river meant for an irrigation project would be severely depleted when it is drawn for the beer factory. This has not been denied or challenged by the government or Vani Agro.
The people of Amdai and the whole of Goa wonder why the battle against environmental destruction has become a people vs government battle. From Tiracol to Tuem to Amdai, this government is batting for outsider project proponents who have no emotional stake in Goa and is battling against its own people.
