The Bombay High Court as passed an order restraining a hotmix plant resuming its operations in Dharbandora village. A copy of the order is annexed.
The PIL challenges the construction and operation of the hot mix plant “Asma Construction” by Baab Construction (India) Pvt Ltd in Dharbandora Village, and challenges the 10 year Consent to Operate order granted by the Goa Pollution Control Board. The Petitioners, Gangi Madhu Gauli and Savitri Bhago Butte are senior citizens of Petkem, a small hamlet of the Dhangar community where the plant is situated, and the Petitioner No. 3 is the Goa Foundation, an environmental NGO.
The plant, of 120 TPH capacity, produces asphalt concrete and bituminous metal. It stands barely 25 to 30 metres from the nearest residence, in an area which is recorded as “Residential”, with schools, a government college and a temple within 300 to 400 metres. Dust, fly ash, black smoke and foul odours from the plant settle on the villagers’ houses, the village well and their cashew, jackfruit and mango plantations. The nearest houses have had to be covered with nets to keep the dust out, and the villagers have complained of asthma and breathing difficulties.
The plant has been constructed and established without a Technical Clearance from the TCP Department, and without a construction licence under Section 66 or a permission under Section 68 of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994. None of the three survey numbers is zoned as industrial in the Regional Plan for Goa 2021, and Survey No. 205 is zoned as Protected/Reserve Forest in the Eco-I category. The Range Forest Officer, Collem, has found that the plant prima facie may fall within Survey No. 205, which is Government land.
The plant was in operation for more than 14 months, from 01.12.2022 till 05.02.2024, without any consent of the Board. The Consent to Operate dated 06.02.2024 was then granted without any prior Consent to Establish, in violation of law including the siting criteria for hot mix plants in the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986.
On 25.11.2025 the Board, on conducting a site inspection, found the plant’s air pollution control device operating inefficiently, black smoke issuing from the stack, and 24 conditions of the Consent to Operate not complied with, and issued a show cause notice dated 22.12.2025 under Section 21 of the Air Act. On 08.05.2026, 12 of those conditions were still not complied with and 5 only partly complied with. The Board has passed no order and has not stopped the plant from functioning. The villagers have complained since 13.11.2025 to the Primary Health Centre, the police, the Village Panchayat, the Deputy Collector, the Mamlatdar, the Board, the Collector, the Forest Department, the Director of Panchayats, the Directorate of Public Grievances and the Chief Minister, but none of the authorities has taken effective action. All have ignored the complaints.
Petitioners aver that the functioning of the plant in this manner assaults the right of the villagers to a clean, healthy, and pollution-free environment – which has been seriously and adversely hampered by the pollution-causing activities of this hot mix plant in an area having residential houses. The dust and other pollutants from the plant affect the drinking water in the wells of the villages, as well as the agricultural cultivations in the village consisting of cashew, jackfruit and mango plantations.
Villagers, in their complaints to authorities, have complained of suffering from asthma problems and breathing difficulties, and of being unable to even eat food in their house due to the foul odors and the dust which reaches inside their homes. All residents belong to the economically backward Dhangar community. The plant works from December to April each year.
Anthony de Souza
Director/GoaFoundation
5.11.2026