Team Herald
MARGAO: The Muslims from Margao have been shocked lately after they discovered that the property acquired for kabrastan was suddenly classified as private forest.
Angered by the development, the Muslims have warned the deputy conservator of forest to face protests at the forest department office on Monday, if he fails to explain satisfactorily the rationale for classifying kabrastan land as private forest.
Muslim leader Abdul Matin Carol said, “They are hiding the laws from us. The law is clear that when the towns are expanding, the lands nearby are exempted from private forest classification. This is a land where the work order was passed in 2012 and there was no need to classify the land now.”
When contacted, Carol said, deputy conservator of forest had informed him that the classification has been recommended by the Forest Assessment Committee. “We want it in writing from the deputy conservator of forest and we will be further challenging it in NGT,” Carol said.
Earlier, the meeting on the kabrastan issue of Margao as per direction of the chief secretary which was hosted by the District Collector on Friday remained inconclusive. A meeting later held with the chief secretary also remained unsatisfactory for the Muslims.
