Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The office of the Accountant General (Audit), Goa has pointed out an alleged discrepancy in the recovery of environmental violation charges from the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) at Dhargalim, stating that over Rs 1.12 crore may still be pending.
The objection relates to the institute securing environmental clearance after construction activities had already begun at the site without obtaining mandatory prior approvals. Audit authorities observed that, under environmental norms, the project proponent was required to pay a penalty amounting to one per cent of the project cost, estimated at nearly Rs 1.35 crore, besides additional charges linked to turnover earned during the violation period.
As per the audit findings, the institute had deposited only Rs 23 lakh before receiving the ex-post facto environmental clearance, leading auditors to flag an alleged shortfall of Rs 1.12 crore in penalty recovery.
After the matter was highlighted in the audit report, the Goa State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) reviewed the issue during its meetings and called representatives of AIIA to explain the payment details and submit supporting records.
During the latest proceedings, officials representing the institute requested additional time to place their clarification before the authority. SEIAA accepted the request and granted a further 15 days for submission of documents and explanations.
The matter traces back to 2022, when Goa-SEIAA had directed the institute to pay a penalty before environmental approval could be considered. The direction followed an inspection conducted after AIIA applied for environmental clearance in 2021.
During the inspection, authorities reportedly found that substantial construction work had already been executed at the project location prior to obtaining statutory environmental permissions, resulting in the project being treated as a violation case.
SEIAA had earlier noted that construction and development works worth nearly Rs 135 crore had been completed out of the project’s total estimated cost of Rs 206.1 crore. The penalty amount was calculated on the basis of this expenditure.
The AIIA campus at Dhargalim, funded by the Central Government, currently operates as a major Ayurveda education and healthcare facility. The institution houses academic departments, a hospital, research infrastructure and programmes for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.
