PANJIM: In yet another setback to the State government, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday directed the State to obtain fresh Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) within three weeks, failing which they would be forced to impose a stay on the project.
The order was issued in the petition filed by Goa Foundation last year, wherein in a fresh move it had challenged the manner in which CRZ clearance was obtained for the project by a temporary committee constituted under the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) in August.
“The NGT initially imposed a stay on the entire project today. But following a request from the government counsel, it stayed its order and granted the State three weeks to obtain fresh CRZ clearance under CRZ notification 1991 from SEIAA,” petitioner Dr Claude Alvares told Herald, informing that he had challenged the State government’s compliance report filed in August.
MoEF constituted the GCZMA on Thursday. The Authority will now have to meet and decide on the issue. The three year term of GCZMA had ended in July and the Union Ministry for Environment and Forest (MoEF) had refused to extend it, the State government had constituted a temporary committee under the Chief Secretary in the first week of August. It was obvious that this ad hoc committee was constituted for the sole purpose of granting the CRZ clearance to the bridge, in the absence of the GCZMA. The committee at its first meeting held on August 7 had granted CRZ clearance to the third Mandovi bridge project. The committee was dissolved in September.
Earlier, NGT, while passing an interim order on April 7, had directed Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), the nodal agency for construction of the bridge, to obtain fresh CRZ clearance, within four months.
“In any case, the entire procedure of submission of application on decision there upon shall be complete within four months from date of this order; else the construction work of the bridge shall be kept in abeyance till such CRZ clearance is obtained. A compliance report be submitted by GCZMA after four months,” the order stated.
As Last year, NGT had imposed a stay on the southern side of the project – Merces junction – directing GSIDC to prepare a new plan and ensure that no mangrove plantation is destroyed.
Almost 80 percent of the piling work of the bridge is complete with May 2017 set as deadline for completion of the project. The new Mandovi Bridge is a 900m four-lane bridge with a 550m cable-stayed portion and a 3.2 km viaduct approach. It will begin at Merces circle on the south and terminate near Hotel Majestic in Porvorim at the north end.
