Goa government may soon allow sand mining in CRZ, Real Estate News, ET RealEstate
PANAJI: Union minister for environment, forest and climate change Bhupendra Yadav, on Monday, assured chief minister Pramod Sawant to allow sand mining in coastal regulation zone (CRZ).
State govt urged the Centre to allow sand extraction from sand bars for construction activities as there is a shortage of the commodity due to the ban on its extraction in Goa. Sawant, along with environment minister Aleixo Sequeira, held a meeting with Yadav to discuss solutions.
CRZ notifications 2011 and 2019 prohibit the extraction of sand in CRZ areas and sustainable sand mining guidelines are framed considering dry riverbed mining in non-coastal parts of the country. “However, the office memorandum issued by the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate changepermits extraction from sand bars and removal of sand bars,” a senior officer said.
State govt has conducted a detailed environmental impact assessment (EIA) study and modeling studies for sand mining in the estuaries of Goa. The National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) has highlighted in their report that sand is predominantly available in estuaries and CRZ areas of the state.
State govt demanded that Union govt should amend the CRZ notification permitting manual extraction of sand in the CRZ area with a report of a national institute of repute on sand accretion and erosion.
The state also proposed amendment to the sustainable sand mining guidelines permitting manual extraction of sand below the water table and sought permission for the use of sand extracted from sand bars for construction.
The NIO has completed studies for Chapora, Mandovi and Zuari. “NIO reports show that the majority of the sand deposits are in the salinity-influenced areas of Chapora, Mandovi and Zuari. Considering the peculiar case of Goa as highlighted in the NIO report and also considering the customary rights of the local population and extraction only by manual methods, amendments are being sought in the CRZ notification, 2011 and 2019 and sustainable sand mining guidelines, 2016 and 2020,” the chief minister said in the letter to the Centre.
