NT Reporter
Panaji
The Western Zone Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), Pune has directed the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) to publish details of all alleged unauthorised constructions along the state’s coastal belt on its official website within three months.
The tribunal had mandated GCZMA to publish online a list of unauthorised constructions to ensure accountability and allow public scrutiny. However, during a hearing on August 28, the bench found that the authority had only partially complied. GCZMA then sought more time, which was granted as a “last opportunity”.
The order, passed on Wednesday by Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh (Judicial Member), Dr Vijay Kulkarni, and Dr Sujit Kumar Bajpayee (Expert Members), came during the hearing of an execution application filed by Sagardeep Sirsaikar.
The applicant had sought compliance of the tribunal’s earlier directions of July 25, 2024, issued in a matter against La Alphonso Marina Beach Resort & Spa over Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) violations.
When the matter was taken up again on September 24, GCZMA submitted an affidavit dated September 23 stating it would upload only cases where demolition orders had already been issued.
The applicant objected, arguing this undermined transparency.
The applicant’s counsel pressed for all complaints—whether or not demolition orders were issued—to be made public, including the name of complainants, violators, nature of violations, action taken, and current status, in line with Section 4.2 (vii) of the CRZ Notification, 2011.
Accepting this submission, the tribunal ordered: “Within three months, all the structures, which are alleged to be unauthorised by some of the complainants, be uploaded on the website of GCZMA, indicating therein the name of the complainants, name of the alleged violators, nature of violations, action taken, present status, etc.”
The Bench added that failure to comply would allow the applicant to return to the tribunal.
