Team Herald
PANJIM: The series of election model code of conduct that have come into force in the State since January this year, have hampered the process of appointing the Chairman and the Member Secretary to Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB).
The post of Chairman has been vacant since March 2016 after then chairman, Jose Manuel Noronha, was appointed chairman of the Goa Public Service Commission. The three-year tenure of the GSPCB MS, Levinson Martins, had ended in June 2016.
NGT on August 23, 2016, in a countrywide order, made special knowledge or practical experience in environment protection studies mandatory for both posts, and since then the government has been struggling to get qualified persons on Board.
The appointments were also caught in limbo due to the State Assembly election code of conduct which was in force from January 4 to March 11 followed by the panchayat election code from May 18 to July 2 and the code for the recent by-elections since July 27.
“In July NGT had granted the State one week to complete the process, however, the election code came into force due to the by-polls and the select committee did not met,” sources said.
The Goa government had earlier informed the Tribunal about the series of model code of conduct that came into force, making it difficult for it to comply with the NGT direction.
The Environment Department, which had issued a fresh advertisement in May received 12 applications for the post.
