The nod from the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests (MoEF) for an Environmental Clearance (EC) for the greenfield Mopa airport project not only paves the way for the airport’s construction, but also for the next phase in the agitation against the proposed international airport. If the government proposes to float the tender for the project in the first week of November and issue the work order by February next year, as has been announced, then the detractors of the project are also preparing to take their protests a step ahead and that step will lead to the law courts.
There is no finality in the EC granted by MoEF for the project, as NGOs in Goa have earlier pointed out to various discrepancies in the process of preparing the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and even sent their views to the ministry. If, while considering the government application for the EC, the MoEF may have overlooked these queries, or unquestioningly accepted the vague replies of the government to the points raised, then the answer to these questions will be heard in the law courts and here the government will be forced to give satisfactory replies and also defend those replies against further queries.
22/10/15 Herald
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There is no finality in the EC granted by MoEF for the project, as NGOs in Goa have earlier pointed out to various discrepancies in the process of preparing the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and even sent their views to the ministry. If, while considering the government application for the EC, the MoEF may have overlooked these queries, or unquestioningly accepted the vague replies of the government to the points raised, then the answer to these questions will be heard in the law courts and here the government will be forced to give satisfactory replies and also defend those replies against further queries.
22/10/15 Herald
