AGENCIES|PANAJI

 

Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) in Goa on Monday expressed shock over Goa Government giving nod to coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) notification.

In a statement, Siddharth Karapurkar, environmental wing leader of AAP in the state, said,”AAP is shocked to note that the Govt of Goa has given a nod to the draconian draft CRZ notification in a high-handed and unilateral manner. This clears the path for the MoEF to dilute all the important provisions in the existing CRZ laws that had given some semblance of protection to the heavily overused coastline of Goa so far.”

 

AAP had demanded that such a major decision required to be discussed in the affected panchayats and local bodies, so that people may have a chance to understand the consequences of such a drastic modification to existing coastal regulations, he said, adding in fact, AAP had even filed a complaint with the ACB to investigate why there was no action taken by various authorities such as Directors of Panchayats and Municipalities despite a written request by the Environment Department to discuss and provide feedback on the draft notification.

 

Karapurkar further said that some of the weak requests by the Govt while giving the nod, such as the request to “maintain traditional activities” is just a fig leaf to cover up what appears to have been a predecided outcome. The CZMA member secretary had the audacity to claim that he held discussions with the citizens groups and affected people, when no such attempt was made.