The Goa government is seeking a one-month extension to the deadline to finalise the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) of Goa and has decided to file an affidavit before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) this week. The plan was to be completed by August 31 as per the directives of NGT. On the CZMP, the state received 8,000 suggestions and objections from citizens during the July 8 public hearing. Several government agencies are working to verify these inputs. State environment minister Nilesh Cabral said that the project deadline ends on August 31, before which an affidavit will be filed before the NGT seeking an extension. Time will be asked till September 30 to finish the work. Work of suggestions and objections verification is presently going on. This is the fourth extension Goa will be asking from the tribunal to finalise the CZMP. The NGT had stretched Goa’s deadline till August 31 in March. In November 2017, the tribunal had passed an order urging all states and Union territories to present their CZMPs by 31 August 2018. But when the Chennai-based National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) prepared Goa’s plan, citizens found several errors in the draft plan. This led to widespread protests across the state, following which to prepare Goa's CZMP, the government of Goa agreed to seek a deadline extension. Even though the extension was provided three times, Goa missed every deadline. In the latest case, the August 31 date was set by the NGT after Goa Foundation approached the tribunal claiming critical deficiencies in the March 7 public hearings by the state government. Based on the directives of NGT, the Goa government then held another public hearing on July 8. Image Source Also read: Delhi Draft Master Plan 2041: Final draft of to be ready by year end Also read: Vizag Master Plan 2041: 36k hectare land needed for future demand