Summary:
PANAJI: National green tribunal (NGT) has taken serious note of the government’s failure to install CCTV cameras to monitor sand extraction and has directed it to deposit a Rs 20-lakh performance guarantee with the Central Pollution Control Board within ten days.In an order issued recently related to a complaint filed by Saidut Khorjuvekar regarding sand extraction in the Chapora, NGT noted that despite giving undertaking on November 1, 2017, to install monitoring infrastructure within two months, the government had not complied.The judges also recalled it had passed a series of orders since 2015, but the state has failed to respond expeditiously. “If the state fails to comply with the timeline prescribed for monitoring infrastructure, the performance guarantee shall stand forfeited,” the tribunal stated.The complainant had alleged that illegal sand extraction was being carried out in Zuvom de Tuem, an island in the Chapora situated between Tuem and Camurlim.After a meeting on November 24, 2016, and a joint inspection to identify locations for fixing CCTV cameras, various measures to check illegalities had been unanimously agreed upon, the judges said.An assistant geologist with the directorate of mines and geology had pleaded for time for installation of CCTV cameras at these locations.While cautioning about coercive orders in case of non-compliance, the tribunal called for an affidavit after two months and fixed the matter for hearing on May 8, 2019..