Bombay High Court sets aside stay on erection of shacks on Goa beaches

Panaji (Goa): The Bombay High Court bench at Goa has set aside the order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) which stayed the erection of shacks here, observing that there is no evidence of its adverse impact on the environment.

A bench of Chief Justice Naresh Harishchandra Patil and Justice M S Sonak passed the order on the petition filed by the Shacks Owners Welfare Society. It stated that the shacks are fabricated using eco-friendly, perishable material such as wood, bamboo and palm leaves.

The NGT had, on September 19, issued a stay on the erection of shacks on the beaches by contending that the "unregulated development activity was resulting in damage to the environment".

The High Court in the order copy dated October 7, stated, "The tourist season having commenced in the State of Goa and keeping in view the fact that large employment is generated under the Shack Policy, we dispose off the Petitions staying the operation of the impugned order dated 13.09.2019 passed by the National Green Tribunal pertaining to the State of Goa."

The court also referred to the Shack Policy, which envisages temporary beach shacks to be erected using eco-friendly material such as wooden poles, bamboos, palm leaves and palm mats, and said that it permits 259 shacks in North Goa and 105 shacks in South Goa.

The court also permitted the state government to implement the Shack Policy for the year 2019-2022 and requested the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority to finalise the Coastal Zone Management Plan for the state "as expeditiously as possible".

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