The Goa government has filed an affidavit before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) seeking a three months extension to finalise Goa's draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP). To finalise its CZMP, the Tribunal had fixed 31st August 2021, as the deadline for Goa. Environment minister Nilesh Cabral told the media that the state government has asked for an extension till the end of November. Though three months have been sought, the government plans to finalise the CZMP much earlier. Based on the objections and suggestions received on the plan, officials have been urged to finish the verification and ground-truthing work at the earliest. The work is in progress and will be finished soon, Cabral said. Earlier, Cabral said that Goa is proposing to seek an extension by only one month, but the state wants to seek three months as a precaution to guarantee the deadline is met this time. On July 8, Goa held a public hearing, where it received around 8,000 objections and suggestions on the draft of the CZMP. Presently, the work of verifying these inputs is done by several government authorities. The minister urged the officials to carry out verification on the ground, as the state does not want to take any chances this time. On 7th March 2021, a public hearing held by the state was rejected by a large section of citizens, and the Goa foundation approached the NGT pointing out multiple deficiencies in the way in which the hearing was held. Based on this plea, the NGT asked the state government to conduct fresh hearings and fixed August 31 as the deadline to finish the CZMP of Goa. Therefore, another public hearing was held on July 8 by the state. The latest extension up to November 2021 will be the fourth such extension being asked by the government. Image Source Also read: Goa govt seeks one month extension for finalising draft CZMP Also read: Delhi Draft Master Plan 2041: Final draft of to be ready by year end