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Eco Sensitive Zone To Be Finalized by End of 2020 For Goa

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has set a deadline of 31 December 2020 for the Ministry of Environment of the Union for the demarcation of

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Eco Sensitive Zone in Goa
The Eco-Resorts concept is popular in Goa
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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has set a deadline of 31 December 2020 for the Ministry of Environment of the Union for the demarcation of eco-sensitive zones (ESZ) in the Western Ghats, covering six states, including Goa. Although states have demanded that some areas be excluded, this does not excuse the delay in the demarcation of the ESZ, the court said. 

The fourth draft notice of the SEZs expired on 26 September, without demarcation of the regions.  Goa has recently requested the removal of 30 villages from the ESZ. The Kasturirangan Committee had previously identified 99 villages as part of the eco-sensitive zones.

“Even though the lock-down period is to be excluded, there is no excuse for the continuation of the delay simply because the states have requested exclusion of certain areas from the SEZs. Let the required action take place before 31 December 2020, “said the NGT.

The Court ordered the Ministry of the Union to send a compliance report before it, and the matter is set to be referred to again on February 11th, 2021. The NGT Order is included in an application filed by the Goa Foundation asking for the early completion of the SEZs.

“There is a call for further exclusion by those who assert the need for ‘growth’ when the need for ‘climate protection’ does not allow for the acceptance of these requests. This element needs to be finalized and has been under review for the last eight years, “the order states.

The Ministry of the Environment of the Union wants to issue a single notification covering ecologically sensitive areas in all the states from which the Western Ghats work. Until informed, all polluting activities inside the designated zone would be prohibited. 

However, each of the States raised concerns on different points that the areas covered by the proposed notification have undergone demographic and infrastructural changes since the time of submission of the Gadgil Committee report and the High-Level Working Group (HLWG) report by Dr. Kasturirangan.

The Member States, therefore, tried to exclude those areas which would otherwise be included in the draught notifications and the HLWG report. Some have also advocated the introduction of new areas as compensation for areas that have been left out.

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