Contractor for GMC Goa's new block liable to pay penalty of Rs 2 lakh

Panaji: The Goa State Impact Assessment Authority (Goa-SEIAA) has levied a fine of Rs 2 lakh on the contractor overseeing the construction of the new tertiary cancer care and blood bank project at the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Bambolim. This penalty arises from the contractor's commencement of project activities without obtaining the necessary environmental clearance.

However, the contractor has requested additional time from the authority and has expressed intentions to present a revised project plan, leading to a postponement of the penalty recovery process. 

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Based on records provided by the Goa State Expert Appraisal Committee (Goa-SEAC), the total work completed until the date of application submission was assessed at Rs 2 crore. Consequently, the authority imposed a fine of Rs 2.1 lakh. Additionally, the Goa-SEIAA acknowledged that the project proponent had, in a letter dated July 14, 2023, sought to delay the matter until approval was granted for the revised project plans. 

In response, the Goa-SEIAA has chosen to defer the matter until the project proponent submits the revised plans for the undertaking. An inspection carried out by the authority in June this year revealed that excavation and concreting activities were conducted without the requisite environmental clearance. Following this discovery, the Goa-SEAC evaluated the work and validated the documents provided by the project proponent.

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As per a media report in TOI, the violation was determined to be a 'clear case of violation' in accordance with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification of 2006. The contractor had completed tasks amounting to Rs 2 crore.

According to guidelines established by the Union Environment Ministry, a penalty equivalent to 1% of the total work completed is typically imposed for such violations. The construction of the tertiary cancer care center and blood bank at the existing site of Goa Medical College spans across 24,060 square meters.