Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: The National Green Tribunal’s ruling, which had permitted the building of a bridge over the Tiracol River to connect Querim Village with the Tiracol hamlet on the Maharashtra side of the river that falls in Goa, has been overturned by the Supreme Court of India.
The building of the bridge was previously put on hold by the Supreme Court in July of last year while the Goa Foundation’s petition was heard.
When activists claimed that Leading Hotels Pvt Ltd, which was then looking to develop a golf course, was the only party benefiting from the construction of the Rs 77-crore signature bridge connecting Querim and Tiracol, they filed an appeal with the Supreme Court. The Goa Foundation filed the challenge.
The Goa Foundation had previously filed a challenge against the bridge’s permissions with the National Green Tribunal, arguing that they had been granted in defiance of the CRZ notification. At first, the NGT had mandated a halt to the construction.
Nevertheless, the NGT (Delhi) rejected the Foundation’s application in January 2020 without consulting the Foundation first. Following an order from the Bombay High Court, the case was brought before the NGT once more. This time, in January 2022, the application was denied without the petitioner’s merits being considered. The Supreme Court received an appeal from the Goa Foundation.
The Foundation contended that because of Querim Beach’s exceptional natural beauty and sand dunes, which forbid the building of the kind intended, the beach was designated as a No-Development Zone (CRZ I). Additionally, the proposed bridge’s alignment was not in line with the RP 2021 alignment.
The Goa Foundation further pointed out to the NGT that, with only 50 families living in Tiracol, the bridge was not a public facility and that it was hard to imagine the government paying Rs 77 crore for a bridge that would meet their need to be connected to the mainland across the river.
