Team Herald
PORVORIM: Independent MLA Rohan Khaunte said that the State govt should come up with a Private Forest Management Policy, which will give directions to the conservation of these areas and also highlight about the livelihood of people living in it.
Speaking during the Demands for Grants for Forests, he slammed series of legislations that had no conclusive policy. “The govt is frequently coming up with new legislations. Unfortunately, we are still to come up with a conclusive policy. There is no policy…it is not defined… nothing is done,” he said.
Citing that quite a few NGOs are working towards protecting the environment, Khaunte alleged haphazard manner in which the private forests are being demarcated. “Forests are an important issue. We say we need green cover and there are many NGOs working on this. The National Forest Policy targets 33 per cent forest cover and we are at 61.2 per cent, far above than the national policy. Even we like the environment. But while protecting the environment, in the same constitution, if we are talking about the right to livelihood, it is a question mark because of the way the matter is being handled now, it is highly condemnable,” he said adding, “Today, why the common man feel the Forest Department is their enemy? Why so they fear when we talk about forests? It is because there is no policy.”
He lamented that even ancestral properties of some locals have been demarcated as private forests, restricting them to carry out any activity within their own property. “There is a demon which is a private forest…” he alleged.
He also came down heavily on non-Goan officers posted at higher positions in the Forest Dept. “I charge that officers in the dept are not a Goans, and hence they are not bothered about the local community. Those who do not know what Goa is, are marking forest areas? The new Principal Chief Conservator of Forests has understood the concept but there is no output and it is because there is no policy,” he stated.
Independent Sanguem MLA Prasad Gaonkar sought a review of the eco-sensitive zones as few other members in the House also supported the issue demanding a policy to demarcate private forest.
Speaking on the Commercial Taxes and Revenue, Khaunte sought to know the status of the 15th Finance Commission. He said if a small state of Mizoram can submit memorandum seeking Rs 94,000 crore, how much has Goa government asked from the Centre?
