PANAJI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed a Rs 50,000 penalty on the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) for repeatedly requesting extensions to file replies in ongoing sand mining cases. The tribunal highlighted that GCZMA had been allowed four weeks to submit its response but failed to do so, even after a reminder in August of last year.
“We are granting one week’s time for them to file their affidavit, contingent on the payment of Rs 50,000 to the National Green Tribunal Bar Association, Western Zone Bench, considering that 12 matters had to be postponed due to the repeated failure to file necessary documents,” the tribunal stated. The matters are scheduled to be heard on February 16.
The NGT is reviewing 12 appeals from the Goa river sand protection network, which contest environmental clearances (ECs) granted by the Goa State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (GSEIAA) on February 3, 2025, for sand extraction. GSEIAA provided ECs for sand mining across a 4.55-hectare area, allowing for an extraction rate of 1,000 cubic metres annually per permit, under certain conditions.
The appellants argue that the coastal regulation zone (CRZ) notification prohibits sand mining in CRZ areas. They claim the ECs permit mining in seven zones of the Mandovi river and five zones of the Zuari river, issued unlawfully as prior clearance from GCZMA was required.
In its judgment, the NGT reiterated that activities such as mining sand and other materials are prohibited in CRZ areas per the CRZ Notification of 2011. “We acknowledge an office memorandum from the MoEF&CC dated April 26, 2022, stipulating that projects in CRZ areas requiring category ‘B’ EC must secure combined EC and CRZ clearances through GCZMA before SEIAA considerations. This procedure was not adhered to in this instance,” the tribunal remarked.
