PANJIM: Expressing anguish over repeated delays in finalising the Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZ) of the Western Ghats, the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has set a fresh deadline of December 31, for the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
Hearing a petition filed by the Goa Foundation, the NGT bench comprising Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, Justice S P Wangdi and expert member Dr Nagin Nanda also warned that any further delay would mean that the advisor would not get any salary till the notification was finalised.
The Goa government has requested MoEF&CC to include 69 villages in ESZ as against the proposed 99 villages by the Gadgil Committee and High Level Working Group (HLWG).
NGT had in November last directed the Ministry to finalise the ESZ and issue a notification by March 2020. “Even if the lockdown period is to be excluded, there is no justification for the continued delay merely because the States have sought exclusion of area from ESZ,” the order mentioned.
“Let the needful be done now before December 31, 2020. For any default, thereafter, directions to stop salary of the Advisor, ESZ division, MoEF&CC will be operative,” it added. The matter has been listed for February 11, 2021.
Despite several deadlines by NGT, the finalisation of the notification of ESZs is pending for years since the Gadgil report was submitted in 2011 with several States, including Goa, dragging their feet on the issue.
During the last hearing in November 2019, MoEF&CC had told the Tribunal that there was a demand for more and more exclusions by the States and project proponents who claim that the need for ‘development’ which at times conflicts with ‘environment protection’ and that both aspects need to be balanced and finalised.
NGT had, however, ordered that an alteration to the draft notification dated February 27, 2017 may seriously affect the environment and direct that no changes be made to reduce the area of ESZ.
