PANAJI: In a major relief to the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), the Goa State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (G-SEIAA) has decided to grant fresh Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance for the ongoing construction of the proposed third Mandovi bridge.
The decision came in the backdrop of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order last month asking the SEIAA to expeditiously reconsider the application for grant of CRZ clearance along with recommendations forwarded to it and dispose the matter within four weeks. The decision was taken at the 35th meeting of Goa-SEIAA held earlier this month chaired by Dr Pramod Pathak. The Authority has noted the recommendations made by the Goa State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), and decided to include the same as ‘specific conditions’ for mandatory compliance by the project proponent to obtain the CRZ clearance.
“The Authority has considered the application referred in (1) and (2) above and has decided to grant CRZ clearance in terms of clause 4.2(ii) of the CRZ Notification, 2011 for construction of proposed third Mandovi bridge subject to compliance of appraisal of mangrove assessment from forest department,” states the report.
Further, in compliance of the NGT direction, the seven-member Goa State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), earlier this month, conducted inspection of the ongoing construction activity of the bridge and sought to lay emphasis on the current environmental scenario at the construction site and the requisite mitigation and management interventions put in place by the project proponent and further requested to highlight the environmental impact on the marine component, in particular.
The Authority after perusing the report submitted by the SEAC recommended the project proponent to conduct post monitoring on bed morphology for a period of one year after completion of the project activity.
It has also asked the project proponent to prepare disaster management plan (DMP) for preparedness to meet with all types of likelihood disasters/unforeseen conditions and directed to store and handle construction material and debris properly with appropriate barricading with display of signboards at sites.
Observing that the modified design for the bridge portion coming from Ponda-end will result in minimal mangrove removal, the authority specifically asked the project proponent to carry out mangrove plantation in consultation with the Goa State Biodiversity Board (GSBB) and the department of forests. The members of the authority further laid down specific condition on traffic bottlenecks and sought appropriate traffic density regulation until completion of the project and asked to allow bypassing traffic on the National Highway (NH 66).
During the SEIAA meeting, the Fine Envirotech Engineers, Mumbai-based environmental consultant, made the project-specific presentation on behalf of the Project Proponent (PP). Later, M/s Larson & Tubro (L&T) – project contractor, also made the technical presentation highlighting technological interventions and its advantages adopted during the construction phase of the new bridge vis-a-vis methodologies adopted in constructing existing two bridges across River Mandovi.
The SEAC committee members met during its 79th meeting held earlier this month and expressed its displeasure with regard to incomplete database of Marine Biota in the submitted EIA report, and as such has mandated that quarterly pelagic and benthic sampling be done at strategic locations in consultations with the Benthic Biology division of NIO, to assess diversity and density of Planktons and Benthic biota respectively; until completion of the project and for a period of at least 1 year.
The SEAC also mandated periodic and regular examinations of exposed concrete structures for fouling encrustations and to take the necessary antifouling measures to avoid weakening of the pile structures.
The SEAC has also noted the report prepared by CSIR-NIO on ‘Influence of New Bridge Piers on Bed Morphology and River Bank’ stated that new bridge piers are unlikely to cause any major impact on the local bed morphology beyond the bridge and on the river banks. Also, it was pointed out that there are no significant changes in the river flow pattern and bed morphology due to the inclusion of new bridge piers.
During the SEAC site visit to the Betim side of the proposed bridge it was noted that the existing wind screen barriers do not effectively contain and control fugitive emissions. The PP was instructed to increase the frequency of water sprinkling at the site for dust suppression.
It has to be mentioned here that on August 7 the environment department, which was the custodian of coastal regulation zone due to non-functioning of coastal zone management authority had given CRZ clearance with stringent conditions to the ongoing construction of bridge across River Mandovi covering NH-17 between Pundalik Nagar Junction (Porvorim) and Merces Junction, which was later opposed in the NGT.
The Goa State Expert Appraisal Committee (GSEAC) in August last year had said that there is no need to obtain environmental clearance for the proposed construction of the bridge across River Mandovi since the coverage is of only 69,118 sq mt, which is less than 1,50,000 sq mt, in view of the amended EIA notification 2006.