Panaji: Goa government has asked the Experts’ committee of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to drop “as many villages as possible” from the list of Eco-sensitive areas in the western ghat, a senior minister said.
State Environment Minister Aleixo Sequeira said that the experts committee of the union ministry is in Goa since Tuesday on the four-day-long visit.
The minister said that the committee has arrived upon the request by the state government to do the “ground truthing” of the villages, which have been on the list of Eco-Sensitive Areas.
“We have asked the committee to drop as many villages as possible from the Eco-sensitive areas list,” he said.
In all 108 villages have been identified as Eco-sensitive areas in the western ghat region of Goa by the Union Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The minister said that the committee will meet Goa Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant at the end of their visit. “We expect to meet them, where we will sit across the table, we will push our case and we will get their opinion,” he said.
Sequeira said that the anxiety has been created amongst the villagers that the declaration of villages as ESZ will result in their eviction.
“The declaration of eco sensitive area does not mean even a single person would be made to vacate the area. The assurance has been given in this regard to the villagers,” he said.
The minister said that the apprehension comes from the fact that there are so many people without knowing much are talking about the subject. “That is why there is anxiety. If you ask me, there are certain restrictions that would be imposed on the villages, other than that there is no issue,” he added.
Giving an example, he said if mining is going on in these villages, then it will have to be phased out within a period of five years. “Fresh mining would not be permitted,” he said.
Sequeira said that the CM has raised certain issues before the committee like, our dependency on the minor minerals. “We are dependent on minor minerals from these villages (listed as ESAs),” he said.
The minister recalled that there was a time when Goa was dependent on Karnataka for the import of Sand. “If we ban the extraction of minor minerals, then we will have to be dependent on other states,” he said.
