Salvador residents protest survey of private forests- Herald

February 27, 2014

TEAM HERALD

PORVORIM: Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte on Wednesday stated that the State government has not yet formulated Private Forest Policy nor the Regional Plan is in place and hence it has no moral right to carry out survey of private lands of the residents.

Khaunte was speaking at a meeting at Saloi organised by the residents of Salvador-do-Mundo to protest against the inspection of their private land by the government to cover it under Private Forest.

“NGOs should not interfere in the private properties of the residents of Salvador-do-Mundo. I will raise this issue in the ensuing Assembly session,” said Khaunte.

“Goa needs a Private Forest Policy to cater to the needs of the local residents who live in harmony with nature and depend on their land produce to support their families. Further, the policy needs to be people friendly and vetted out by the stakeholders, who understand the local rural lifestyle,” stated Khaunte.

Village committee chairperson Dr Meenacshi Martins stated that the natural cover in Salvador-do-Mundo is largely plantation. “The private forest policy of Maharashtra cannot be made applicable in Goa. The Town and Planning department has not carried out any inspection to identify or demarcate zoning for natural cover or private forest indicated in the regional Plan 2021,” said Martins.

“Three properties in Salvador-do-Mundo are wrongly shown as natural cover in RP 2021. The ‘Legend’ for the RP 2021 notified in December 2011 under the private forest cover says ‘subject to confirmation’ indicating that the private forest shown in Salvador-do-Mundo is not yet confirmed. However, it has been indicated in the final Notified Regional Plan. This is illegal,” stated Martins.

Vice Chairperson Aniceto Pinto, Salvador-do-Mundo Sarpanch Rajesh Savoiker and former sarpanch Sanjeev Naik also spoke on the occasion.

Later, the residents of Salvador-do-Mundo took out a silent protest march from Salvador-do-Mundo Church to protest against the inspection of private lands by the government authorities. Khaunte, Dr Martins and former sarpanch Sanjeev Naik participated in the protest march.

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