n Govt makes provision of ` 2 cr n Attempt to check ground realities
the goan I network
PANAJI
The State Government intends to conduct a survey of all CRZ areas using satellite imagery in a bid to arrive at a complete picture of the number of structures within the regulated zone.
A budgetary provision of Rs 2 crore has been set aside for the survey under the environment head with sources in the department confirming that the money will be spent on a digital GPS survey which has been in a pipeline for a long time.
The previous survey was conducted in the year 2006-07 and the report was made available in 2008 with the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority handing the task to M/s Remote Sensing Instruments (RSI), Hyderabad based on directions by the Bombay High Court at Goa.
The survey provided details on the number of structures that were present in the CRZ areas of Goa. The fresh survey is being undertaken to check the ground realities of the CRZ areas of Goa, sources have revealed.
The earlier survey had found that along the CRZ-III (ie between 200m and 500m from the HTL) a large number of new structures and dwelling units have come up after 1991, particularly in the villages Arambol, Mandrem and Morjim in Pernem taluka, Anjuna, Calangute and Candolim villages in Bardez taluka and Palolem in Canacona taluka. The villages Colva, Benaulim in Salcete taluka, Velsao and Arossim in Mormugao taluka, Naquerim in Quepem taluka, Cola, Agonda, Poinguinim and Loliem in Canacona taluka also registered a significant increase. All the other villages also recorded increase in the number of structures and dwelling units.
The CRZ issue has dominated the discussions in the coastal areas of Goa with complaints against houses, business establishments and others for violating the CRZ regulations.
Along rivers, the survey had found a huge number of structures which had come up after the initial 1991 notification.
The CRZ notification was subsequently amended in 2011 and was reissued with changes.
The GCZMA has often been accused of turning a blind eye to irregularities and issuing permissions liberally to detriment of the coastal environment.
Several cases before the High Court were taken up but there have been no sweeping changes on the ground much to the frustration of activists and others. At the receiving end of the orders of the High Court as well as the National Green Tribunal judgements is the GCZMA which is understaffed and incapable the sheer task of monitoring the number of violations that have been taking place within the eco-sensitive areas.
