PANAJI: The Goa State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (Goa-SEIAA) has mandated that the Town and Country Planning (TCP) department and the planning and development authorities of North and South Goa must notify the Goa-SEIAA after approving any building plan with a built-up area exceeding 20,000 sqm. This measure aims to facilitate the verification of necessary environmental clearances, as discussed in a recent meeting.
The Goa-SEIAA has also stipulated that it must inform the TCP department and the relevant PDA upon the approval of any project exceeding 20,000 sqm in built-up area.
This issue came to light during an August meeting, where it was established, based on Union environment ministry directives, that environmental clearance will only be granted after the project proponent submits approved building plans from the relevant authority.
However, the Goa-SEIAA observed that the TCP department and PDAs were not approving building plans without prior environmental clearance for projects under the EIA Notifications 2006 and its subsequent amendments. Officials from these departments remarked they could not issue final plan approvals without the necessary environmental clearance.
To simplify the process, the Goa-SEIAA has decided to provide environmental clearance on the condition that the project proponent submits the necessary approved building plan from the competent authority at a later stage.
The Goa-SEIAA emphasized that no civil activities can commence before the submission of the approved plan; failure to comply may result in revocation of the environmental clearance under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
