PANJIM: The three-member committee that was formed by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) upon directions from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has stated that the total sum of monetary compensation that would have to be paid by violators on turtle nesting beaches in Goa is Rs 2.59 crore.
GCZMA expert members Savio Correira, Sujeet Dongre and Pranoy Baidya (Scientific Consultant) were part of the team that were tasked on drawing up the figure.
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“The GCZMA is probably the first coastal management body in the country to evaluate the economic value of their State’s undisturbed coastal ecosystem,” said Correia, while adding that this should be a warning for violators.
The recovery per violator was calculated based on satellite imagery and as per the scientific determination of how much a coastal ecosystem would have been worth in terms of its economic value if it were to be left untouched by human activity and development.
The committee’s report had been accepted by the GCZMA in its meeting that was held last month and they will now be sending out notices to the accused violators.
It may be recalled that NGT had issued directions to the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA), to take action against temporary structures (shacks) constructed along the beaches of Morjim, Mandrem, Galgibag and Agonda, which are famous as Olive Ridley turtle nesting sites, without specific permission from the GCZMA in No Development Zone (NDZ). The NGT had directed that the compensation be recovered by the GCZMA from those violating the above norms, apart from other incidental directions. The GCZMA had to work out a formula to determine how much compensation a violator should pay for the environmental damage caused to the ecosystem he has disturbed to help arrive at a final penalty to be imposed on violators, for which the expert committee had been formed in February 2022.
