Panaji: The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has issued a closure order to 161 shacks operating on the Candolim-Calangute stretch without obtaining the consent to operate from the pollution control board.
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has directed the North Goa district collector to ensure implementation of the closure order.
The high court has also directed the district collector and the GSPCB to file a compliance report by April 5. The court has directed the collector to take the assistance of police, if required, to ensure that the closure order is duly implemented.
The high court observed, “At least, prima facie, the tourism department has failed to implement the terms and conditions subject to which it had issued such licences.
The tourism department, it appears, permitted shack operations without verifying the status of all required NOCs. The NOCs from the GSPCB, GCZMA and under the Goa Public Health Act are vital because all such NOCs directly concern the environment.”
It said, “Moreover, such NOCs are vital because before the grant of such NOCs, such authorities are required to inspect the site and impose suitable conditions so that there is no environmental damage on highly eco-sensitive beach areas.”
“Therefore, in this case, we are quite shocked that the activities have been carried out without obtaining consents from the GSPCB. Without such consents, we are unsure whether the tourism department has issued any final licence or, if given, the basis on which the same was issued,” the high court said.
It said, “If this is the position along the Calangute-Candolim stretch, we shudder to imagine the position on the other beach stretches in the state of Goa. Therefore, for the moment, we propose to focus on the Calangute-Candolim beach stretch.”
“However, we expect the authorities also to examine the position on the other beach stretches. The authorities enjoined to implement environmental legislation cannot abdicate their responsibilities and allow rampant degradation of eco-sensitive coastal stretches. The authorities are trustees for this precious natural heritage. By their inaction, whether deliberate or otherwise, they cannot permit the destruction of these coastal stretches,” the court said.
It may be noted that the GSPCB had submitted before the high court that several shacks were operating on the Candolim-Calangute beach stretch without obtaining the consent to operate. The information was provided to the court with regard to a case related to illegal shacks operating on the beach stretch.
The GSPCB had stated before the court that it inspected as many as 167 shacks on the Calangute and Candolim beaches and found that only six shacks had valid consent to operate orders, while 100 shack operators had applied for the consent to operate after the GSPCB issued show-cause notices to them.
Moreover, 58 shacks have no valid consent to operate as required under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and the pollution control board is in the process of issuing directions to close these shacks.
The GSPCB has stated that all the defaulting beach shack operators have been issued show-cause notices under Section 33(A) read with Section 25/26 of the Water Act, 1974 and Section 31(A) read with Section 21 of the Air Act, 1981, asking them as to why their operations should not be closed/suspended for operating the shacks without a valid consent to operate.
It may be noted that the high court had in an order directed officials of the department of water resources and the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority to inspect beach stretches at Candolim and Calangute to probe allegations of several soak pits constructed and borewells dug there.
The high court had said that the authorities must act if unauthorised borewells were dug and soak pits constructed on the beaches.