The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed Rs 1-crore fine on the Goa government for failing to act against illegal structures built at beaches, which have been identified as nesting sites for sea turtles.
The amount has to be deposited with the Central Pollution Control Board within a week, the green court said.
The tribunal had in February asked the Goa State Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) to take action against temporary structures constructed along the beaches without requisite permission from the GCZMA. The turtle nesting sites are monitored by the state forest department.
“We find that it [the report] is severely wanting in compliance of the directions issued. It is found to be nebulous and bereft of material particulars [and]… demonstrates gross non-compliance,” the NGT bench of justices S P Wangdi, K Ramakrishnan and Dr Nagin Nanda observed.