PANJIM: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has disposed of an application filed by Goa Foundation on the issue of tree felling in Tiracol. The tribunal has instead asked the foundation to approach the appellate authority set up under the Trees Act to question the tree felling permissions.
The foundation had challenged two tree-felling permissions given to Leading Hotels for their golf course project on grounds of conflict of the Supreme Court’s order on Goa forest identification. Leading Hotels, however, called the application duplication since a similar case was still pending in the High Court of Bombay at Goa.
The tribunal took cognisance of the Supreme Court order which prohibited issuing a No Objection Certificate for conversion of any plot having natural vegetation, which is in excess of one ha and which has a canopy density of 10 percent and above.
Goa Foundation stated that the area where tree felling was permitted has natural vegetation (forest trees), canopy density 0.4 and is above four ha.
Since the permission was issued under the Goa Preservation of Trees Act, 1984, the NGT said an appeal could be filed before the appellate authority set up under the Act.
The application also challenged the North Goa Forest District Committee as having manipulated the facts at the site, comprising two plots in the village. The facts at the site were manipulated to arrive at a decision that the identified forest plots did not meet the Goa government criteria for classification as private forest, said Goa Foundation in its application.
