Team Herald
VASCO: Conservationists and green activists from South Goa on Saturday uncovered a massive tree cutting and burning of trees in a property bearing Survey No 11/84 of Issorcim in Mormugao taluka. They however could get the flying squad and the forest department officials to inspect the site as the officials had their own excuses.
According to reports, on Saturday some local residents in the area noticed massive tree cutting and setting on fire of trees in few properties which was once having green cover.
On receiving information Judith Almeida and Avinash Tavares rushed to the site. “The property belonging to Ramakrishna S Tare partly falls under the 200 metre high tide line; has well forested green cover and overlooks the sea. I had earlier traversed the property and clicked exclusive pictures of many trees that were cut, set on fire and pushed over a cliff at the seaward side of the property,” Tavares said.
Incidentally, on Saturday Tavares and Judith were stopped by the property owners on the pretext of trespassing but subsequently allowed them access.
“I have concrete visual evidence that many trees have been clandestinely destroyed just days before the State celebrates another sham World Environment Day and the State’s watchdogs have no ‘will’ to intervene,” lamented Tavares.
After noticing destruction, both these green activists even tried in vain to call the South Goa Flying squad and Forest Department with some shocking consequences.
“The flying squad kept us waiting and finally conveyed to us that they would be starting from Margao when the sun would have already set on this lonely and desolate part of Issorcim village. We are shocked that these squads don’t even have GPS based land survey locators and they expect the citizens to spoon feed them,” Judith decried.
“The forest department had no vehicle to come to the spot and hence expressed their inability to come,” Tavares revealed and questioned, “So, how are they supposed to protect 60% of Goa that is forest?”
“With a new trend of putting up ‘No Trespassers’ board over properties that have been witnessing some drastic unlawful and illegal developments especially on weekends, remote parts of Goa is becoming inaccessible to concerned citizens wanting to protect the environment especially when authorities are complicit with unlawful developers carrying out illegal developments,” he alleged.
