Cost of destruction of Goa’s ecosystem is ₹2.59 cr per hectare annually, violators to pay

The Goa government in an affidavit filed before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has disclosed that 241 shacks, huts, tents, sheds and cottages have been built near Olive Ridley turtle nesting sites at four beaches in violation of norms of the coastal regulation zone (CRZ).

The estimated economic value of an ‘undisturbed’ coastal ecosystem -- an amount which will be recovered from those violating the Coastal Regulation and environmental norms along Goa’s turtle nesting beaches -- is ₹2.59 crore per hectare per year, the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) has said.

Morjim and Mandrem beaches, which host turtle nesting sites in North Goa district, have seen the highest number of 136 constructions, which have come up flouting the CRZ rules. (HT PHOTO.)

The statutory body tasked with regulating Goa’s coasts worked out a formula to determine how much compensation a violator should pay for the environmental damage caused to the ecosystem he has disturbed to help arrive at a final penalty to be imposed on violators.

“What we followed is a system of determining how much a coastal ecosystem -- say a sand dune -- would be worth in terms of economic value if it were to be left untouched by human activity and ‘development’. This has been determined after following the literature available on the subject. We have arrived at a figure that is ₹2.59 crore per hectare per year,” Sujeet Dongre, a member of the GCZMA and who was also a member of the expert committee tasked with arriving at the compensation figure, said.

The GCZMA had constituted a committee consisting of Dongre, Pranoy Baidya (Scientific Consultant), and Savio J F Correia (Expert Member GCZMA) to draw up the figure.

The National Green Tribunal had issued directions to the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA), to take action against temporary structures (shacks) constructed along the beaches of Morjim, Mandrem, Galgibag and Agonda (that witness Olive Ridley turtle nestings annually) without specific permission from GCZMA in No Development Zone (NDZ). The Tribunal had also directed that the compensation be recovered by the GCZMA from those violating the above norms, apart from other incidental directions.

In February this year the GCZMA decided to form the committee to work out the formula for calculation of Environmental Compensation to be recovered from the violators. The authority will now send out notices to the accused violators seeking compensation from each violator depending on the violation on a case-by-case basis.

The violations determined by the GCZMA include alteration of natural landscape, erection of temporary or permanent structures, landscaping by removing native vegetation, flattening the dunes, change in native vegetation composition, construction of swimming pools etc.

The GCZMA resolved to carry out an exercise of calculation of fines based on area damaged, calculating difference in land use change in square metre by satellite imagery(from the year the violation was noticed) along with field verification on case-to-case basis so that compensation can be recovered from the violators.

The NGT had ordered the enforcement of Forest Department recommendations for turtle nesting beaches which included no beach beds to be set up in the intertidal zone. The existing practice in Morjim is to lay the beach beds very close to the waterline leaving little scope for the turtles to move up.

Besides that, shacks were directed to desist from installing any outdoor illumination. The indoor lighting should also be muted and provided with opaque shields on the sea facing side and playing of loud music by the shacks beyond 6 pm and holding of beach parties to be prohibited. Shacks were also directed to play a proactive role in ensuring a conducive condition to the mare turtles besides information sharing with staff of the Forest Department which monitors the entire coast.

The Goa government in an affidavit filed before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has disclosed that 241 shacks, huts, tents, sheds and cottages have been built near Olive Ridley turtle nesting sites at four beaches in violation of norms of the coastal regulation zone (CRZ).

Morjim and Mandrem beaches, which host turtle nesting sites in North Goa district, have seen the highest number of 136 constructions, which have come up flouting the CRZ rules. Two other beaches where turtles come for nesting – Galgibag and Agonda – in South Goa district have reported 105 structures in breach of the rules.