The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Tuesday ordered an immediate halt to excavation and development activity at Morjim beach, after contractors caused widespread damage to the ancient sand dune bank — part of a notified turtle nesting site — under the pretext of a ‘beach beautification’ project.
The division bench of Justice Bharati Dangre and Justice Nivedita P Mehta passed the ad interim order while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) writ petition filed by Captain Gerald Fernandes, a resident of Morjim, and the Goa Foundation. The petitioners were represented by Advocate Om D’Costa.
Speaking to mediapersons, Capt Fernandes said, “The residents of Morjim have been anxiously following the developments in the media relating to proposed activities on Morjim beach, which is a turtle nesting site. We came to know that there was a proposal to commence a new project labelled as a beach beautification project at the entrance to the beach areas. Except for a sandy walkway to the beach, the rest of the area was occupied by sand dunes and sand dune vegetation which are protected as CRZ 1A by the CRZ Notification.”