Make public all alleged CRZ violators: NGT to coastal body

Panaji: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) to upload within three months on the Authority’s website all structures that complainants have alleged are unauthorised. The tribunal has held that details of such structures should be uploaded on the GCZMA website and made public even if there is no demolition order yet on the structure concerneds.

Details being uploaded of unauthorised structures should indicate name of the complainants, name of the alleged violators, nature of violations, action taken, and present status, the NGT has said. It has asked the applicant in this matter to approach it in case the GCZMA does not comply with the order within three months.

The GCZMA, which is the respondent, had told the tribunal in a reply affidavit filed on Sep 23 that it “undertakes to upload a list of unauthorised constructions, in respect of which demolition orders have been passed, on its official website within two weeks”.

However, the applicant told the NGT that in his original application, the prayer sought that the GCZMA “may be directed to maintain on its official website a database in respect of the complaints received by it during the last five years, ie from Jan 2019 onwards”. The applicant had sought that the name of the complainant, name of alleged violators, nature of violations, action taken, present status of the complaint, etc, in compliance of Section 4.2(vii) of the CRZ Notification, 2011.

After considering the prayer, this tribunal had passed direction that a list of unauthorised constructions must be uploaded on the website of the GCZMA in order to maintain transparency.

The applicant said during the latest hearing that “it appears the GCZMA is only promising to upload such cases in respect of which demolition orders were passed, which is objectionable, as according to him, details of all unauthorised structures, irrespective of whether demolition orders with regard to those structures were passed or not, and which are pending consideration before the GCZMA, should be uploaded”.

The tribunal accepted this request and directed the GCZMA to comply.