Team Herald
PANJIM: The State government on Monday informed the High Court of Bombay at Goa that, at present, it is not going ahead with the proposed marina project in Nauxim.
Advocate General Devidas Pangam told the Division Bench that the government has no plans to hold any public hearing related to the marina project, for now.
The District Collector North had on July 17, 2020, postponed the environmental public hearing on the proposed marina, scheduled on July 26, 2020.
Kargwal Construction Pvt Ltd, the project proponent, had filed a petition before the High Court challenging the repeated postponement of the public hearing.
To this petition, another public interest litigation (PIL) was filed by Revolutionary Goan, challenging the powers of Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) to lease one lakh sq mtrs of water to the company for the proposed project.
Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant had on January 26 announced that the State is currently not going ahead with the proposed marina project.
AHOY Marina, as it has been called, was proposed by Kargwal Constructions Pvt Limited, across 1,00,000 sq mts stretch, with land area admeasuring 50,000 sq mts as per the Environment Impact Assessment report.
The project was to facilitate small boat, yatch and craft parking and maintenance in MPT water.
The project had been approved by the Investment Promotion Board in 2015, but was opposed by villagers who said the facility will harm the ecology, marine life and destroy traditional fishing activity.
Kargwal had signed a concession agreement with MPT for a 30-year lease to establish the marina in its waters that envisaged accommodating 239 boats on the northern bank of Mormugao Bay.