The Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) has worked out a formula to determine the compensation a violator should pay for the environmental damage caused to the ecosystem. (Shutterstock)
The economic value of an undisturbed coastal ecosystem is ₹2.59 crore per hectare per year, which will be recovered from those violating norms on Goa’s Olive Ridley turtle nesting beaches, the coastal regulator said on earlier this week.
The Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) has worked out a formula to determine the compensation a violator should pay for the environmental damage caused to the ecosystem.
“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 latest literature available on the subject,” said Sujeet Dhongre, a member of the GCZMA who was part of an expert panel asked to determine such an economic value.
The statutory agency had constituted a committee consisting of Dhongre, Pranay Baidya (scientific consultant), and Savio J F Cordia (expert member GCZMA) to draw up the figure.
The National Green Tribunal had in November 2017 issued directions to the GCZMA to take action against temporary shacks along the beaches of Morjim, Mandrem, Galgibag and Agonda, which are nesting sites for Olive Ridley turtles, without permission. The tribunal had also directed that the compensation be recovered by the GCZMA from those violating norms.
In February, the GCZMA formed a committee to work out the formula to calculate the penalty. The authority will now send out notices to the violators to levy compensation on a case-by-case basis.
The violations determined by the GCZMA include alteration of the natural landscape, erection of temporary or permanent structures, landscaping by removing native vegetation, flattening the dunes, change in native vegetation composition, and construction of swimming pools, among others.
The GCZMA resolved to carry out an exercise to calculate fines based on area damage, calculating the difference in land-use change in square metres by satellite imagery from the year the violation was noticed, along with field verification on a case-to-case basis so that the compensation can be recovered from violators.
The green tribunal had said that the forest department’s recommendations for turtle nesting beaches should be followed, which said no beach beds could be laid out in the intertidal zone. The existing practice in Morjim is to lay the beach beds 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 be muted and provided with opaque shields on the sea-facing side, and the playing of loud music beyond 6 pm and holding of beach parties should be prohibited. Shacks were directed to play a proactive role in ensuring a conducive condition for the mare turtles, besides sharing information with forest department staff that monitors the coast.
The state government in an affidavit filed before the tribunal in 2021 had said that 241 shacks, huts, tents, sheds and cottages have been built near Olive Ridley turtle nesting sites at four beaches in violation of coastal regulations.
The Morjim and Mandrem beaches, which host turtle nesting sites in the North Goa district, have seen 136 constructions, while two other beaches where turtles come for nesting – Galgibag and Agonda – in South Goa district have reported 105 structures in breach of the rules, the government had said.
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