PANJIM: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Principal Bench has refused to grant any relief to Mackie’s Saturday Night Market at Arpora from the demolition order issued against them by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) in 2016.
The GCZMA had on May 23, 2016 issued demolition orders to Saturday Night Market for operating in a No Development Zone (NDZ) in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) guidelines. The operator of the market Joseph Pereira had approached NGT challenging the order claiming that the structures existed prior to 1991.
The GCZMA had observed that the Saturday Night Market has illegally constructed temporary huts, stalls and permanent structures including office, dance floor, concrete structure at the edge of the tidal creek. The deck has been created through illegal land filling and land reclamation. The entire market is situated within 15mts of the high tide line.
The main contention on behalf of the appellant was that there is no material for holding that the construction is covered by the CRZ notification and also no reference of creek/lagoon has been made to the plan. However, the applicant failed to prove the contentions.
The GCZMA, on the other hand proved that the Baga creek is shown in the Goa Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP), which is a NDZ.
“We are of the opinion that since the area is found to be part of creek and the appellant has failed to produce any document in support of the contention that the construction existed prior to the prescribed date of 1991, the impugned order cannot be faulted,” the order issued by the chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel stated.
The NGT Bench also noted that the impugned order refers to the order of the Bombay High Court at Goa, dated April 20, 2016, that all temporary structures/private shacks in CRZ area are to be demolished.
“We, thus, do not find any ground to interfere with the impugned order. The appeal is dismissed,” the order added.
