Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Dec 16: In a decision that has sparked concern over environmental safeguards in a sensitive coastal belt of Aldona, the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) has dismissed a complaint alleging illegal construction in a No Development Zone (NDZ), effectively clearing the way for a bungalow linked to former chief secretary Puneet Goel.

The ruling, passed in October, pertained to a complaint filed by politician Trajano D’Mello, who had alleged Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) violations on a property bearing survey no 36/1 in Aldona village.

Following the complaint, a GCZMA inspection team comprising an Expert Member, an Environmental Assistant and a field surveyor visited the site on May 19, 2025. The inspection report was later placed before the Authority, which focused on the physical features of the plot rather than the construction activity itself.

The Authority observed the presence of sluice gates on both sides of the property and bunds along two boundaries, concluding that CRZ jurisdiction ends at these sluice gates. Based on this interpretation, the GCZMA held that the plot lies outside the CRZ and is therefore beyond its regulatory purview.

The decision relied on the Goa-approved Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) 2011, which marks the two sluice gates flanking the property. These gates, identified by the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, were cited while invoking a 2020 amendment to the CRZ Notification.

Referring to the amendment, the GCZMA noted that where bunds or sluice gates existed prior to the original CRZ Notification of February 19, 1991, the High Tide Line is restricted to the line of such structures. Since the sluice gates appear on the approved CZMP, the Authority ruled that CRZ norms do not apply to the Aldona plot, rendering NDZ restrictions inapplicable in this case.

The Authority also rejected the claim that the property falls within a mangrove buffer as notified under the CZMP declaration dated September 7, 2022, stating that the protections cannot be applied retrospectively as the structures predate the notification.

Concluding that the plot lacks tidal influence, lies outside CRZ limits and is not subject to mangrove buffer norms, the GCZMA held that it had no jurisdiction to proceed further. The complaint was dismissed as “devoid of merits”, no show-cause notice was issued and the case was formally closed.

While the order does not name the owner, the bungalow is linked to former chief secretary Puneet Goel, intensifying scrutiny of the decision. The ruling is being viewed as a precedent that could allow constructions in ecologically sensitive zones to be shielded from action through CZMP interpretations, sluice gate demarcations and post-facto amendments, raising wider questions on the enforcement of coastal regulation in Goa.