PANJIM: Some 880 cases of coastal regulation zone (CRZ) violations have been reported in the last four years ending December 2015, during which the BJP has been in power.
Just 21 cases have been disposed off till now, while the rest are pending inquiry before the expert committee of the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA). There are 19 cases in litigation, pending before National Green Tribunal (NGT), High Court and district courts.
Sources confirmed that in the first two years, April 2012 till December 2013, there were 480 cases of CRZ violations reported, while until December 2015, another 400 cases were reported.
“The violations include illegal construction of residential houses, commercial projects like hotels, shacks, restaurants, additional roof or rooms to existing structures, illegal construction of retaining walls destructions of mangroves, erection of palm trees and others,” sources said.
GCZMA, the competent authority under the CRZ Notification, 2011, has issued notices to hotels, houses and other construction activities for CRZ violations.
“The cases were disposed off after initiating action like demolition order or after it was found that the complaints were false based on personal rivalry,” sources said.
The largest number of violations was reported in tourism talukas – Bardez (406), Pernem (42), Salcete (110), Tiswadi (110), Canacona (55) and Mormugao (39). Bicholim (15) Ponda (9), Quepem (3) and Sanguem (1) reported the least violations.
Sources said the Union Ministry for Environment and Forest (MoEF) has in-principle agreed to relax the CRZ regulations to give a fillip to tourism on the Goan beach stretch.
The State is currently working on a proposal to identify beach, backwater, lake and river stretches significant from the tourism point of view, which can be considered for relaxation of CRZ limit and furnish details of the latitude and longitude of the starting point and the end point along with the length of the same.
