Minister says no eviction, but certain restrictions
PANAJI
The State government has allayed the growing apprehensions among the local residents that the declaration of villages as Eco-Sensitive Areas (ESA) will result in their eviction.
The Environment Minister Aleixo Sequeira said that declaration of ESA does not mean eviction but yes there would be certain restrictions that would be imposed on various activities within the ESA villages.
Speaking to media persons, Sequeira said there is anxiety among the local residents that declaration of villages as ESA will result in their eviction. Their apprehension stems from the fact that there are many who are unaware about the issue.
“Let me make it very clear that declaration of eco-sensitive areas does not mean even a single person would be made to vacate the area. An assurance has been given in this regard to the villagers and we reassure this again,” he said.
“If you ask me, there are certain restrictions that would be imposed on the villages, other than that there is no issue,” he added referring to the draft notification which speaks about things that are allowed and not once the village is declared as ESA.
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.
The Goa government in its submission before the Union Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has proposed dropping 21 villages from the ESA list and that 87 villages be categorised as ESA since they meet the criteria set out by the Ministry.
In order to undertake ground verification of the proposal, the Ministry’s Expert Committee has arrived in Goa.
The Minister said that during the interaction, the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has raised certain issues before the committee like, dependence on the minor minerals. “We are dependent on minor minerals from these villages,” he said adding ‘if we ban the extraction of minor minerals, then we will have to be dependent on other states’.
The Centre, in its draft notification, issued in August, had proposed 108 villages from Goa as ESA. The government in its proposal had proposed to drop 12 villages from Sattari, five from Dharbandora, three from Sanguem and one from Canacona taluka.
