Debris in mangroves: Govt warned of contempt plea

With seemingly no action being taken against indiscriminate dumping of debris in the mangroves between Panaji, Merces and Ribandar, activist lawyer Aires Rodrigues has served a legal notice on the Government of Goa accusing them of contempt of court.

| OCTOBER 17, 2017, 04:06 AM IST

the goan I network
PANAJI

In the notice jointly addressed to the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police, Director of Municipal Administration and Director of Panchayats, Adv Rodrigues has given the authorities 48 hours to take action in the matter failing which he would in public interest be constrained to move the High Court through a Contempt of Court petition.
Adv Rodrigues has in his notice has referred to a 2007 Public Interest Litigation before the Bombay High Court at Goa over the rampant dumping of building debris along the Panaji-Old Goa bypass road.
Based on the petition, the Government of Goa had undertaken to within three months identify and designate separate places for safe disposal of building debris without harming the environment besides also having undertaken to within three months identify and place at proper convenient locations public receptacles, depots or places for temporary deposit or collection of non-biodegradable garbage.
"It was very anguishing that it is almost a decade and over the years the Goa Government has done nothing to comply with the solemn undertaking given to the High Court on June 26, 2008," Rodrigues said in a statement adding that the malafide conduct of the authorities amounts to rank disobedience to the orders of the Court.
"Debris and garbage continues to be dumped unabated along the same stretch of the bypass with the situation getting bad to worse by the day having now reached a point of crisis," Rodrigues has said buttressing his arguments with photographs taken on October 15, 2017 showing the debris and garbage dumped along the Panaji-Old Goa bypass.


THE LEGAL NOTICE
No action taken against indiscriminate dumping of debris in mangroves between Panaji, Merces and Ribandar
Authorities given 48 hours to take action; threatened with contempt
Refers to 2007 Public Interest Litigation before Bombay High Court at Goa
Govt had undertaken to within three months identify, designate separate places for disposal of building debris
Notice jointly addressed to CS, DGP, DMA & Director of Panchayats

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