Team Herald
PANJIM: In a major setback to the Goa government, the Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed by the State challenging the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order to notify an area of 46.11 square kilometres as ‘private forest’.
In a brief order, the bench comprising Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman and Aniruddha Bose said, “We find no ground to interfere with the impugned order passed by the Tribunal. The appeal is, accordingly, dismissed.”
On August 18, 2020, the NGT ordered the Goa government to notify an area of 46.11 square kms of privately owned land as private forest. The NGT order came on a petition filed by Goa Foundation alleging that the State was dragging its feet on demarcating private forests.
The Tribunal had disposed off the application filed by Goa Foundation in 2020, seeking directions to produce the report of the earlier Review Committee, formed to finalise the private forest policy and the reason for its rejection.
The NGT in January, last month had rapped the State government for failing to demarcate the private forest area, while noting it as a deliberate attempt on the part of the authorities.
The green bench has warned that coercive measures will be taken if the concerned officers do not behave responsibly.
Goa government had submitted that it had constituted a committee on January 21, 2020 to submit a report on the review of earlier reports prepared by different committees.
For this purpose, a public notice was issued on July 15, 2020 and time to file objections was extended till August 31, 2020 on the ground of COVID-19 pandemic. However, the objections have still not been finalised.
