PANJIM: The National Green Tribunal (NGT), Western Zone Bench, Pune has disposed of an application seeking revocation of No Objection Certificate (NOC) issued by the Captain of Ports (CoP) and a stay order on construction of bridge from Village Chunem Kantor at Cumbarjua to Vantso at St Estevam village.
The applicants had earlier approached the High Court of Bombay at Goa by filing a writ petition alleging that the bridge in question was being constructed without any approval from the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) in terms of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, 2011 and therein they had also challenged the NOC granted by the Capitan of Ports and the order of Additional Director of Panchayats.
The said petition was heard by the High Court and was dismissed on March 23, 2022 with liberty to the petitioners to avail alternative and efficacious remedy before the NGT. Following this, applicant Estevam Socorro Ribeiro and others approached the NGT.
“We have heard the arguments of the learned counsel for the applicant as well as respondents who are present today and have perused the record. We find that the prayers which have been made by the applicant cited above already stand complied with because the respondent CoP has already withdrawn the NOC and the stop work order has already been issued by the respondent GCZMA. The learned counsel for the GCZMA has also apprised that the final decision is going to be taken by them within a period of three weeks,” reads the NGT order.
“We find that this application has become infructuous. If the applicant has any grievance from the decision taken by the respondent GCZMA, they can approach us under appropriate provision of National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. With the above direction, this application stands disposed of,” the order reads further.
