TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: As part of its countrywide ban, the National Green Tribunal has banned excavation of earth for making bricks and roadworks without prior environment clearances, making this the third ban overall after bans on ore and sand mining and the second from NGT.
This latest NGT order banning excavation of earth for bricks and roads, which was meant to clamp down on alleged irregularities in Uttar Pradesh and is also applicable to all states, will severely impact the infrastructure development and construction activity which was tottering and bring it to a grinding halt.
Goa depends on neighbouring Karnataka for its supply of clay bricks as the quantum of production in Goa is minimal with Khanapur bricks being in demand.
The Public Works Department is once again going to be the worst hit as major works undertaken by it involves construction of roads and buildings, followed by the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation and the Goa State Urban Development Agency including private construction agencies in the state, besides impacting the construction industry.
The order virtually restrains any person, company and authority from carrying out any such digging activities of brick earth or ordinary earth against the directives issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) of June 24, 2013 in any part of the country without obtaining EC from the competent authority.
Goa is already severely reeling under acute shortage of sand for both government and private construction projects and another ban on excavation of earth for bricks and roads is expected to spell doom.
Those in the real estate business fear a severe dent in their business, which has taken a hit by 35 to 40 per cent. Government project such as the national highway 17 widening project from Patradevi to Pollem is next on the agenda after completion of the new Zuari bridge, both of which could be hit.
PWD Principal Chief Engineer J S Rego said “We will have to see what directions are issued to us by the chief secretary,” as all Union territory and state chief secretaries have been directed to ensure that the interim order of the NGT is strictly adhered to.
Rego agreed that this will bring to a halt all road works if such a ban is imposed.
“The construction activity in Goa will have to come to a halt if raw materials such as sand and bricks are unavailable,” said Desh Prabhudesai, president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India, (CREDAI) Goa chapter, when contacted for a reaction to the interim order of the NGT banning extraction of mud for brick making all across the country.
The ban on earth excavation for bricks and roads is likely to hit housing projects as bricks and laterite are used extensively. Prabhudesai pointed out that there is already a slow down in the real estate business by nearly 40 per cent and many real estate companies have been forced to halt activities following the ban on sand mining two months ago.
Prabhudesai said that the association has taken up the issue of shortage of sand for construction purpose with the chief minister last week.
Deshprabhu said that the chief minister has assured to find solutions by mid-October. He said it is getting tougher for construction companies to carry out works especially since they have already entered into agreements with purchasers and have to fulfil the same even as the cost of raw material is soaring.
“A truck load of sand is now priced at Rs 25,000 as against the earlier rate of Rs 7,000,” said another builder. The price for a truck load of 2000 bricks which is around Rs 5,000 may also double,” said another builder.
