ROHAN KHAUNTE
‘Government is out to finish Goa like they’ve done to coconut trees’
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Herald: You, along with the independent MLAs Vijai Sardesai and Naresh Sawal were quite vociferous on the issue of coconut tree declassification in the House. Your view?
Rohan Khaunte: The first question that arises is why was a Bill required and why was section 1A omitted? Secondly, this has come in line with a cabinet decision and they need to answer the urgency of demoting the coconut tree to a shrub. When we already have laws in place, there was no need for such a legislation. A coconut tree would not be cut by a Goan just like that. But there is no guarantee that a person from outside who comes here and settles would not cut any tree.
Herald: You alleged that the government has a vested interest in this. Can you elaborate?
Khaunte: Consider this. The Bill has come at a time when Vani foods proposal is being passed by the IPB. The place where the project is coming up has a lot of coconut trees. It is a backdoor entry to IPB projects which are in orchard zones, which have lot of coconut plantations. If not, we will get accountability in the next one year. Whatever permissions are given, we will come to know. They have bypassed all acts to accommodate the IPB. Everything is a backdoor entry for investments which will finish Goa. They are misleading the House. People have started coming out on to the streets. It is not only MLAs, even locals have protested this.
Herald: Please continue….
Khaunte: On one side, the government is talking about development and deforestation has started with the cleaning up of cashew trees and now they want to cut the coconuts. Today, eco-sensitive zones have been demarcated. The biggest scare is exo-sensitive zones meaning there are mangroves in it. In Sancoale, there is a Marina coming up and in Vanxim, there is a 5-star property. There again there is a possibility that mangroves can be disturbed so the eco-fragile system of Goa is being challenged by this particular government. They are out to finish Goa. Today what we are thinking is whether a coconut is a palm or a grass.
Herald: So what are the demands of the Opposition on the issue?
Khaunte: We know the value of coconut in our lives. We call it kalpvruksh and around 25,000 sq mts of land has coconut plantations. Our demand is you should make a coconut protection act and give special status to protect coconuts. Otherwise, like mangoes it would go beyond the reach of Goans. Once upon a time, the mango was available everywhere but today it is almost out of reach of the common man and similarly, a time will come when coconuts will also be sold at 100 or 150 a piece.
Herald: But the government said it will protect coconut trees. Your opinion?
Khaunte: What is the guarantee? The will of the government is absent. The ideas are not clear, there is a hidden agenda behind all these things. They want to promote corporates in the name of investment.
Herald: But don’t you think the laws were too tedious to cut a coconut tree for a common man who has some issues
with it?
Khaunte: That is right, but the intention of the government is not to help the common man. Today it is only coconut tree, tomorrow it would be other trees also. These are issues which need to be looked at.
Herald: The ruling MLAs allege that you as a builder and Vijai Sardesai, have caused more harm to coconut trees for your personal interests. Your say?
Khaunte: This government has a tendency to level false allegations against anybody. Whenever we are building something, be it me or Vijai, we have gone through procedures but for that you have to see whether we have taken permission for it or not. We have not changed laws for self interests. As far as aforestation is concerned, I am one of the pioneers. We are not talking for ourselves but for posterity.
Herald: The government claims that Opposition MLAs agreed this Bill in the last session?
Khaunte: In the last session, the Bill had been introduced and when it is introduced, it needs to be discussed when it is up for consideration. The rest of the things like increasing the size, diameter and height we have no questions about. But what we are saying is keep the identity of the coconut tree a tree. Let it go through a process which people cannot misuse. It is high time the government rethinks these issues.
SUBHASH PHALDESAI
‘Unnecessary issue created out of coconut trees as elections draw near’
Herald: The Goa Legislative Assembly passed a controversial amendment to the Goa Protection of Trees Act. Don’t you think the timing is suspicious?
Subhash Phaldesai: What do you mean by the timing is suspicious? When would be the right time to bring such legislation according to you?
Herald: The Investment promotion Board has cleared a project of Vani Agro in your constituency and it is alleged they would cut around 1000 trees for the project. Is it just a coincidence?
Phaldesai: First of all, let me make it very clear. They claim that 1000 coconut trees are going to be cut but there aren’t 1000 trees at the site. There are hardly 200 trees out of which I don’t know how many they are going to cut. Now some of them say 450 trees are already cut. I can assure you so far no trees have been cut.
Herald: You mean to say Vani Agro would not cut any trees?
Phaldesai: There is nothing in this. It is mere coincidence. The projects will always keep coming and you can’t link it to government decisions. You cannot link Vani Agro to this Bill. This amendment is for only those people affected where the tree belongs to one person but is going to fall on the other side. Speaking specifically about Vani Agro, even without this bill they can cut 500 trees in 3 months when this law is in existence as it is in their owned property. There were never any restrictions on cutting coconut trees in one’s own property. They can claim they want development and nobody can deny permission for that purpose. Hence, for this, we did not require to change the law.
Herald: The government claimed they are going to protect the coconut trees by this law. Can you elaborate how?
Phaldesai: According to the new Bill, you will have to plant as many trees as you have felled. It is not just go and kill anything. First of all, there is a misunderstanding that the government will allow to cut each and every coconut tree. Same laws exist in other states that don’t mean u can cut anything. Before 2008, there were no laws but the coconut trees survived. So why the issue only now? And from 2008 to 2012, how much has the population of coconut tree? The Act does not have an impact as long as we Goans decide we are not going to cut trees unnecessarily.
Herald: The government also said it could bring in a new law to protect the coconut tree if this is not sufficient. Is it true?
Phaldesai: Yes, if we think that this Bill is not sufficient to protect the trees, we will bring in another amendment.
Herald: Why were people not taken into confidence on such a big issue?
Phaldesai: There are so many bills coming up in the assembly. Is the public consent taken on all of them? No, then why only now? Also, I must say in the last session, Panjim MLA Siddharth had brought this resolution and if you take verbatim of the House, the MLAs who are opposing today, at that time they spoke on the need to bring such a legislation. They wanted a legislation to see that someone’s tree does not fall on others property and needs to be cut. A 30cm tree should not be considered as a tree. It should not require permission. This has been spoken in the assembly. It is just that the elections are around and people want to make an issue out of nothing. It is to play with the sentiments of the people and create a fear that the government will finish off all trees in the state.
