Goa: GCZMA Slaps Rs 7.7 Mn Fine for CRZ Violation in Arambol

07 Jan 2025 CW Team

Following this, the high court directed the Pernem Police Inspector and Arambol panchayat to seal the structure. In November 2023, the court expressed disappointment that its order for the demolition of the illegal structure had been misinterpreted, causing a delay in the demolition by the panchayat.

The court further granted the Directorate of Panchayat the authority to recover the costs incurred due to the panchayat’s delay.

In July 2024, GCZMA’s expert members conducted a site inspection and found that the structure was situated in the no-development zone of CRZ-III, within the mangrove buffer zone, classified as CRZ-1A. They observed that the violator had not fully demolished the structures.

However, the GCZMA experts concluded that the violator should be held accountable for the environmental damage and degradation caused.

The GCZMA stated that the respondent was obligated to compensate for the environmental harm by funding ecological restoration and restoring the land to its original condition, as required by the CRZ Notification of 2011 and the Environmental Protection Act. This included removing residue and RCC footings below ground level. Despite previous inspections by the GCZMA team, the site had not been cleared.

The GCZMA clarified that it used May 4, 2017, as the starting date for calculating compensation, extending to August 2024, which amounted to more than seven years. The compensation amount was determined by multiplying the number of years by the area of violation in square meters, then multiplying by Rs 2,590 per square metre. This amount had been established earlier by the GCZMA in a study on environmental compensation for coastal damage.

Based on this formula, the GCZMA calculated the compensation amount to be Rs 7.7 million.

The GCZMA explained that this formula was applied because the respondent had committed violations in the NDZ area, resulting in significant damage to the local ecology and biodiversity.

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The Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) imposed an environmental compensation of Rs 7.7 million for the construction of a ground plus four-storey structure within 50 metres of the CRZ area in Arambol. The violation was discovered after a local resident approached the high court in 2023, alleging that various local authorities had failed to take action against the CRZ breach. Following this, the high court directed the Pernem Police Inspector and Arambol panchayat to seal the structure. In November 2023, the court expressed disappointment that its order for the demolition of the illegal structure had been misinterpreted, causing a delay in the demolition by the panchayat. The court further granted the Directorate of Panchayat the authority to recover the costs incurred due to the panchayat’s delay. In July 2024, GCZMA’s expert members conducted a site inspection and found that the structure was situated in the no-development zone of CRZ-III, within the mangrove buffer zone, classified as CRZ-1A. They observed that the violator had not fully demolished the structures. However, the GCZMA experts concluded that the violator should be held accountable for the environmental damage and degradation caused. The GCZMA stated that the respondent was obligated to compensate for the environmental harm by funding ecological restoration and restoring the land to its original condition, as required by the CRZ Notification of 2011 and the Environmental Protection Act. This included removing residue and RCC footings below ground level. Despite previous inspections by the GCZMA team, the site had not been cleared. The GCZMA clarified that it used May 4, 2017, as the starting date for calculating compensation, extending to August 2024, which amounted to more than seven years. The compensation amount was determined by multiplying the number of years by the area of violation in square meters, then multiplying by Rs 2,590 per square metre. This amount had been established earlier by the GCZMA in a study on environmental compensation for coastal damage. Based on this formula, the GCZMA calculated the compensation amount to be Rs 7.7 million. The GCZMA explained that this formula was applied because the respondent had committed violations in the NDZ area, resulting in significant damage to the local ecology and biodiversity.

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