PANJIM: The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC), New Delhi has directed the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Goa, to take appropriate necessary action against rampant hill cutting in the State and to submit an action taken report.
The MoEF&CC directives came in response to a complaint filed by Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) vice president Sunil Kawthankar.On August 7, Kawthankar had emailed his complaint to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Bhupinder Yadav, Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
Kawthankar informed that the MoEF&CC assistant commissioner (forestry) Vinod Kumar has asked the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests to examine the matter and take appropriate necessary action as per the provision of extant Acts, Rules and Regulations in force.
In his letter, Kawthankar had stated that rampant hill cutting activities were taking place across the State, causing irreparable damage to Goa’s ecosystem and threatening the lives of its citizens. He said that despite Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s promises to curb hill cutting, the activity was continuing unabated putting environment, lives, villages and livelihood at risk.
This brazen defiance of the Chief Minister’s assurance was a betrayal of public trust and a clear indication of the lack of governance in the State. The hill cutting was also causing soil erosion, landslides and destruction of natural habitats. The long-term consequences of such actions wil be devastating and it was imperative that the State government takes swift and decisive action to cub these activities, he said.
Kawthankar had urged the government to enforce strict regulations on hill cutting and to conduct a thorough investigation into the ongoing activities particularly hill cutting at Dharbandora and take action against the violators including the government officials responsible. He had also urged the government to implement measures to restore damaged areas and prevent further degradation.
“We will continue our fight to save the Goan environment and ecology for future generations with zero tolerance to destruction of our hills,” Kawthankar said.
