SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2024
Team Herald
The Bombay High Court at Goa on Tuesday observed that the Siolim tree-cutting case is getting more and more curious after the state informed that the Public Works Department (PWD) is not involved in the road widening project. The tree-cutting contractor, too, failed to update the Court after his lawyer informed the bench that the contractor was in the hospital.
The court observed that there are some shadows at play here and prima facie it looks like the tree cutter is being made the scapegoat.
In a remark made in open court Justice Mahesh Sonak reprimanded the act of tree cutting saying that "one cannot go cutting trees like this. They have a life", he said.
"We accept that trees have been cut but we have to preserve whatever is left", Justice Menezes said adding that this case should be taken as a case study.
The court has asked the State to get clarity on the issue from the PWD engineers as to who is widening the road and who gave the contract to the tree cutter. The court further wanted to know what the value of the trees was. The matter has been kept for hearing on Wednesday.
The road widening in Siolim, which began on March 3rd, unfortunately, involved the felling of trees that had stood for 50 to 100 years. In response to this, the community voiced their concerns, staging peaceful protests in Siolim and approaching the High Court. Subsequently, the High Court issued a stay order on further tree felling. Regrettably, 30 of these venerable trees had already been uprooted till then.
