KHOLA: Social Welfare Minister Subhash Phal Dessai played to the galleries and transported people to “protest” against the so-called earmarking of Eco Sensitive Zones before a committee that had not even come for the purpose.
Gullible local body representatives were armed with memorandums against including their villages in Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) to be handed to a central committee. The large crowd had gathered as Phal Desai had misled them that the committee would listen to their grievances and opinions. However, the committee very clearly stated that that was not their mandate and they had come only to inspect the place.
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This expert committee headed by Dr Sanjay Kumar, with senior scientists and academics, with Additional Collector of South Goa Ritesh Joshi, Environment Director Dr Sneha Gite, Deputy Collector Ramesh Gaonkar were present at Khola, when the panchayat members gave their representations to Phal Desai.
An embarrassed Phal Desai admitted that he did not know that the central team had come only to inspect the area sought to be declared as an Eco-Sensitive Area and not to declare Eco-Sensitive Zone (please see the box which explains this).
Phal Desai claimed that he was unaware that in Goa, ESZs are already identified as 1 km from the boundary of protected areas. The Supreme Court also modified its earlier order mandating a 1 km kilometre eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around protected forests would not apply in cases where the ESZ have already been notified (final and draft) by the Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
Therefore, he planned the wrong memorandum to the wrong committee on areas that had been earmarked and identified by the Supreme Court.
“I did not read the notification properly and realised it only now that the team that has come cannot accept any representation from people as they have come only to inspect the place,” he said.
It would be pertinent to point out that Phal Desai had asked villagers from his constituency to gather in large numbers at Khola to protest against setting up an eco-sensitive zone in the State and even sponsored transport to bring the huge crowd that had gathered at Khola which was an effort in vain.
The minister publicly accepted representations from 11 panchayats of four talukas namely Quepem, Sangue, Dharbandora and Canacona and said he would submit them to the chief minister to be conveyed to the union government.
Left with no option as the committee refused to accept the representations from the people, Phal Desai accepted them in a public show and said he would present the same to the Chief Minister.
He said the people should be properly explained what will happen if their area becomes an eco-sensitive zone and said the Forest Department officials should not harass people.
Panchayat representatives from Zhone, Khola, Khotigao, Rivona, Netravali, Mollem, Sanvordem, Kirlpal-Dhabal, Kallem, Dharbandora, Bhati, Kulem, and Sacorda were present.
