GREENS FUME AS BATTLEGROUND SHIFTS TO DELHI

Campaigners to continue fighting
their cases no matter the distance

PANAJI: Malicious, mischievous, manipulation were just some of the adjectives reserved for the decision of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change that shuffled the jurisdictions of the National Green Tribunal benches placing Goa under the ambit of the principal bench of New Delhi.
And not without reason, with Goa being a very environmentally conscious state not willing to take the state government's careless attitude towards laid down procedure, as much as 40% of the litigation handled by the western zone bench at Pune emerged from Goa.
In a notification issued on August 11 but which came to light on Saturday, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has expanded the jurisdiction of the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal at Delhi to include Goa and Union territories Daman and Diu. The move is seen as one to dissuade activists from dragging the government and private parties to court over environmental violations. Goa was along with Maharashtra and Gujarat made under the jurisdiction of the Western Zone which sat at Pune.
Two recent success are worth a mention -- the victory of the Old Cross Fishing Canoe Owners Cooperative Society led by one Custodio D'Souza and the and the Baina Ramponkar and Fishing Canoe Owners Society, which successfully petitioned the National Green Tribunal in an appeal against the Environmental Clearance granted to the Mormugao Port Trust for capital dredging to allow for cape size vehicles to berth at the Port -- and the win for the villagers of Siolim whose case in the tribunal ensured that the Water Resources Department would have to seek an environmental clearance afresh since they were not only repairing a bund as initially claimed but also building a "jetty" as part of the beautification.
It was the NGT at Pune that secured a public public hearing was held before the capacity expansion of MPT was carried out.
The latter project has not got the attention of Water Resources Minister Vinoda Paliencar who has now seeking to gain political mileage claiming irregularities done during the time of his predecessor who also ruled the same department.
"Pune is affordable and an overnight journey, allowing people to handle cases themselves, so much so that a majority of cases, above 40%, were from Goa. This highlights either the environment spiritedness of Goans, or the sheer scale of violations or both in relation to the size of the state, considering that Maharashtra and Gujarat are the only other two under the jurisdiction of the Western Zone," the Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) had said.
Needless to say, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and his sidekick Siddharth Kuncalienkar have repeatedly raved against activists who approached the National Green Tribunal, but more often than not, it was procedural lapses on the part of their government that gave the activists ammunition to battle cases -- the Mandovi Bridge case for instance.
While government officials especially that of the Goa State Pollution Control Board, the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority repeatedly complained that they were spending more time in Pune than in Goa, transferring to Delhi may not change that.
"While the local Government complains that its officers spend too much time standing in for cases, on reading many of the Applications it is evident that due process is almost always violated by Government departments, and we ask the Government why," the GBA said in its statement.
However, with several activists pledging that they will continue to fight their cases no matter the distance, it can only mean that the government officials will end up spending more time attending cases than they were doing now.
"The NGT must be required to hold sittings in Goa one week or so per month. The vacant premises of the Old Collectorate in Margao can be utilised for the NGT as it has all the facilities," former MLA Radharao Gracias said in a post on social media something which was echoed by the Congress party.
Several others including filmmaker Bradroy Barreto questioned why the Goa State Assembly itself not be moved to Delhi, while others compared it to the shifting of the Bombay High Court at Goa to New Delhi.

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Notification will be challenged
before Courts: Salcete Greens

MARGAO: Salcete Greens see red in the exclusion of Goa form the Pune bench of the National Green Tribunal as per the notification issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
They all say that the common man from Goa will now have to travel 1870 kms instead of 470 kms to seek justice, slamming the MoEFCC for issuing the ill conceiving notification with the sole purpose of depriving justice for the people waging a sustained battle to protect the state's ecology and environment. "This notification cannot be accepted. If the MoEFCC thinks that Goans are fools, then they will be sadly mistaken. The people of Goa will challenge the notification before the Courts very soon," thundered social activists from Salcete's countryside, some of whom had knocked the doors of
the NGT Pune in several matters seeking justice.
Be it Colva Civic and Consumer Forum secretary Judith Almeida or Cavelossim Village Forum President Adv Irish Passianha, they all disclosed plans to challenge the MoEFCC order in the Judiciary to ensure that common man is not deprived of justice by bringing Goa under the Delhi bench of the NGT.
Judith on her own had filed as many as half a dozen petitions before the Pune bench of NGT in the last six years. Amongst the high profile cases taken by the social activist was the Colva circuit plan after the agency started construction on a tower cum restaurant in a no development zone. The recent case won by Judith in the NGT, Pune was the Sernabatim road constructed by cutting a sand dune, wherein the NGT ordered the restoration of the land in question.
Says Judith: "The objective behind bringing Goa under the NGT Delhi is obvious. The MoEFFC in connivance with the BJP-led state government has issued the notification to deprive the common man of Goa of Justice. Why should people travel 1870 kms to Delhi when they can knock the doors of justice at Pune, which is approximately 470 kms from Goa", Judith questioned. She termed the MoEFCC Notification as not only illegal, but immoral.
Social activist from neighbouring Cavelossim, Adv Irish Passainha, heading the Cavelossim Villagers Forum, echoes similar sentiments. "The whole objective behind putting Goa under the NGT, Delhi bench is to scuttle justice. "The notification aims at creating roadblocks on the path of the people fighting to save the environment and ecology. We will all join hands to challenge the MoEFCC notification in the right forum and protect the rights of the people to protect their environment," he said.
Adv Irish had filed as many as 4-5 petitions before the Pune NGT in the last 2-3 years and have got justice in almost all the cases pertaining to his home village Cavelossim.
Says activist Abhijit Prabhudesai: "Any common man affected by any decision by the government relating to environment could catch a bus to Pune and appear in person before the NGT Tribunal. Delhi will be a costly affair, not just in terms of travel, but on the question of engaging a lawyer", he said.

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Goa govt tried to
transfer Mopa
case to Delhi?

MARGAO: Did the Goa government made an abortive bid to transfer the Mopa case from the National Green Tribunal, Pune to Delhi a month ago before the MoEF came out with the notification excluding Goa from the Jurisdiction of Pune NGT?
Activists waging a battle against the Mopa airport claimed that the Goa government did make a sly attempt to transfer the Mopa matter to Delhi without informing the parties. "This only goes to show that the Goa government had tried to take the Mopa matter to Delhi before the Court turned down the plea," the activists claimed.
In fact, the Rainbow warriors said the Goa Government made a sly attempt to transfer the Mopa matter to Delhi without informing the party, which failed due to diligence of the appellants. The transfer of Goa matters to Delhi is another step towards denying our children their right to life, even before they are born, stated Rainbow warriors president Rony Dias.