PANJIM: Two NGOs and a heritage activist have filed a public interest litigation before the High Court of Bombay at Goa challenging the State government amendment reclassifying the coconut tree.
Heritage activist Prajal Sakhardande, NGOs Goa ForGiving and Vanashakti have filed the petition terming the amendment to the Goa Preservation of Trees Act, 1984 as illegal.
The petition seeks to restrain the government from proceeding on the basis that coconut trees are not ‘trees’ under the Goa Preservation of Trees Act, 1984.
The petitioners said the amendment expressly removes the extended protection given to the ‘coconut tree’ under the Act. The consequence is that coconut trees that do not conform to the width/height requirements can now be felled indiscriminately without applying for permission from the tree authority.
“It modifies the definition of ‘tree’ protected under the act to exclude trees that have a trunk/body less than 10 centimetres in diameter at a height of one meter from the ground level. Earlier, the qualification was that the trunk was required to have a diameter of 5 centimetres at a height of 30 centimetres from ground level,” the petition states.
“As a result any tree that does not meet the “10 centimetre criteria” can be felled indiscriminately without applying for permission from the tree authority,” the petition adds.
The petitioners said the Goa Preservation of Trees Act, 1984 was enacted to preserve trees in the territories of Goa, Daman, and Diu. To that end the Act created a mechanism to prevent indiscriminate felling of trees, and encourage planting of trees.
Pointing out that the impact on the environment through this amendment, the petitioners have said that in the present environmental scenario, given the decreased amount of water reaching the sea from river, the land near the coast will become more saline in a process that is called ‘salinity intrusion’.
“As a consequence of this, lands along the coast will be rendered barren and useless of cultivation.”
