Panaji: The Goa State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (Goa-SEIAA) at its recent meeting has decided to penalise five project proponents for failing to submit four consecutive half-yearly compliance reports of their individual environment clearance conditions.The Goa-SEIAA began a review this year of all the project proponents and their whether they have submitted the mandatory six-monthly EC compliance reports before the authority. The authority began by carrying out review of projects granted ECs in 2023.The compliance reports are to be submitted within a stipulated time.Accordingly, the SEIAA found two basalt quarries, two laterite quarries and one real estate project not having complied with the requirement. It decided to penalise these violators.At its last meeting, the Goa-SEIAA had warned project proponents that fines will be imposed for failure to submit their EC compliance reports.A notification dated Nov 26, 2018, issued by the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change has made it mandatory for project proponents to submit half-yearly compliance reports. These reports ensure that the project proponents are meeting the conditions set in the environment impact assessment (EIA), such as mitigation measures to reduce air and water pollution, among others.These conditions are set while granting an EC to various types of projects.Last April, the Goa-SEIAA had decided to hike the fine imposed on project proponents for not submitting their half-yearly compliance reports on time, as required by the respective projects’ EC conditions. The fine has been hiked from Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000. The hike in the fine came after four years.It was first in Nov 2021 that the Goa-SEIAA noted that many project proponents were not meeting its requirements. This led the authority to impose a fine of Rs 15,000 at its meeting in Jan 2022.
