PANAJI
More than 25 years since the Goa Fruit and Ornamental Plant Nurseries (Regulation) Act, 1995 was enacted, the State government is yet to formulate the necessary rules under the Act. As a result, the absence of enforcement measures has hindered efforts to curb the proliferation of illegal plant nurseries across the State.
Interestingly, the Agriculture Department lacks data on the number of nurseries in the State, including those with expired licenses -- issued nearly two years ago -- or those operating without proper permissions. The registration fee, set at Rs 1,000 back in 1997, remains unchanged to this day.
While a Zonal Agriculture Officer is a nursery inspector under the provisions of the Goa Fruit and Ornamental Plant Nurseries (Regulation) Act 1995, a senior official conceded that in the absence of punitive provision in the Act, there is no clarity as to who will act upon such illegal nurseries.
Despite repeated attempts Director Agriculture Sandeep Fol Dessai remained unavailable for the comments. However, a senior official admitted that more than 25 years since the Act was notified in 1997, no Rules have been framed under it.
In 2018, then in-charge Satej Kamat had drafted Rules and moved it to the Law department for vetting; however, following his transfer, the rules remained as mere documents. “Detailed Rules were drafted to crack down on such illegal nurseries and to ensure that the business remains with the locals. The draft also spoke about actions, penalties and registration charges and various permissions required,” Kamat said, adding that it had made it mandatory for all nurseries to produce the principal certificate of the source of their plant.
“But following my transfer, the department never followed it up and till date, there are no rules,” he added.
In the wake of the increasing number of plant nurseries that are reportedly running their business without a licence, the department amended Act in 2022, wherein the government introduced the fine up to Rs 5,000 or imprisonment for a term extending up to one month or both.
The roadside nurseries are dominated in the talukas of Bardez, Tiswadi and Salcete talukas.
The Department had way back in 2018 issued a public notice making it mandatory for vendors to install a board with details of the licences; however, none of the existing nurseries have any boards displayed.
There are 100 plant nurseries in Goa that have been issued licences over the past 25 years, since the Act was implemented in 1997 but the Department has no idea as to how many of them have been renewed or still operational.
“The ZAOs do not have the power to compound the offences as there are no Rules in place to determine the scope of work of agriculture department or local bodies,” a senior official said ‘in the absence of these Rules, there is no clarity as to who will act upon’.
The Act stresses mainly on fruit nurseries, but trading line for ornamental plant nurseries is not a concept laid down in the Act yet.
