MARGAO: In what came as a surprise to many, Government of Goa served a notice to the Federation of Rainbow Warrior at around 4 pm on Tuesday to appear before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday morning. The Government filed an application seeking permission to cut 54,676 trees in lieu of the Order passed by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Goa on March 2 which permitted them to cut the trees provided various safeguards listed in the Order were followed.
Siddharth Karapurkar, a member of the Rainbow Warriors, informed Herald that their attorney, Advocate Utkarsh appeared on their behalf and asked for some time. The next hearing is on the July 10.
After the PCCF had passed the Order, Rainbow Warriors approached the High Court challenging the Order. The Government responded by stating that the Preservation of Trees Act does not apply to such major infrastructure projects. The High Court rejected their arguments, and directed them to place the argument before the NGT and get their approval before starting any work of tree cutting. “This appears to be a tactic to get an ex-parte order to allow them to cut trees”, said Siddharth.
The Government requires the permission to cut 54,676 trees without which the project will be delayed further. The government raised the issue of the delay and the implications it will have on time and cost overruns.
It may be noted that the Government of Goa signed a concessionaire agreement with the airport contractor, GMR, where the government is liable to pay around Rs 3.5 lakh per day if the project is delayed on account of delay in granting the Environment Clearance, Right of Way and access to the site. The project, according to the concessionaire agreement, is set to be completed by the end of 2019. However, it will be very difficult to achieve this deadline on account of this delay.
It is unclear whether GMR will claim these penalties from the government and what will be the final amount.
