PANAJI
The Union Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC)-appointed expert committee arrived in Goa on Tuesday for ground verification of the State government’s submission to delete 21 villages from the Eco-sensitive Areas (ESA) of the Western Ghats.
In its submission to the Union Ministry, the Goa government has proposed dropping 21 villages from the ESA list and categorising 87 villages as ESA since they meet the criteria set out by the Ministry.
Upon arrival, the committee, headed by Sanjay Kumar, former Director-General of Forests, held a meeting with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Environment Minister Alexio Sequeira, the State government-appointed expert committee, and other officials.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Sawant said that the government has recommended the exclusion of 21 villages from the ESA list as they do not fit the criteria set by the Ministry, among other reasons.
He said that on Wednesday, the team would visit a few villages proposed for exclusion from the ESA, hold meetings with villagers, and gather their views.
The committee will verify, along with the state government, whether its demands to omit villages marked as ESA are justified.
“We have just made the recommendation. After ground verification, the committee will submit its report to the Union Ministry, and accordingly, the final notification will be issued,” Sawant said.
The Centre, in its draft notification issued in August, had proposed 108 villages from Goa as ESA.
According to the government proposal, the 21 villages include 12 from Sattari, five from Dharbandora, three from Sanguem, and one from Canacona taluka.
Of the total 87 villages proposed under ESA categories, 51 villages are from Sattari taluka, 23 villages from Sanguem, eight from Dharbandora, four from Canacona, and one from Ponda.
