Coastal body rejects PWD plea to retain Merces visarjan spot

Panaji: The Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) has rejected the request from the public works department (PWD) to regularise a Ganesh visarjan platform at Merces. The GCZMA noted that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order upholding the demolition order of the authority was also later upheld by the Supreme Court.The authority said it therefore cannot go against the apex court’s orders.The GCZMA had issued the demolition order against the structure constructed by a PWD contractor at Murda, Merces. The village panchayat had approached the NGT and later the Supreme Court, both of which refused to interfere with the demolition order.The structure was found to have been illegally constructed and the PWD had later applied for the regularisation of the construction.“The village panchayat of Merces has accorded permission for the said activity. The comunidade of Murda, being the custodian of the land, has also issued the no-objection certificate,” the PWD told the GCZMA in its plea for regularisation. “The construction is in the public interest, solely for facilitating a religious and cultural activity vital to the community, and involves no residential or commercial exploitation.”When the GCZMA first took action based on a complaint, the PWD had pleaded ignorance that the CRZ permission was needed for construction in the mangrove area. The GCZMA has ruled that though the authority is empathetic to religious sentiments, the construction violates CRZ norms and will have to be demolished.The PWD had said a new Ganesh visarjan site was being developed after the entry to the old one was blocked due to the highway expansion work.