Panaji: Govt issued 67 show cause notices to structures set up on Agonda beach without any permissions from the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA), advocate general Devidas Pangam told the high court of Bombay at Goa on Monday. The high court directed these show cause notices to be decided at the earliest.
Pangam said the GCZMA has not issued any permissions for structures on turtle-nesting sites and added that the structures did not come up in the vicinity of turtle-nesting sites but towards the landward side of the beach. The illegal structures were noticed during an inspection.
The high court asked govt to consider whether commercial activities in these structures, which have no permission by the CRZ authority, should be stopped immediately. The case will be heard again next week.
The high court is hearing a PIL seeking the sealing and demolition of structures operating blatantly and without permissions in violation of the law on Agonda beach, which is a notified turtle-nesting site under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. The PIL is also seeking the cancellation of all approvals and permissions issued by it on Agonda beach after Jan 3, 2017, when the beach carrying capacity report of the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management was accepted by the GCZMA.
The petitioners submitted to the high court that the entire beach stretch has structures, both semi-permanent and permanent, with commercial operations being carried out. Google Earth images show that huge structures were constructed after 2017. The petition alleges that the GCZMA turned a blind eye to the mushrooming of illegal structures in the fragile turtle-nesting site.
