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Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panaji
The government of Goa, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, has decided to de-notify two wildlife sanctuaries in the state.
Fearing increasing ecological destruction due to both legal and illegal commercial activities in the forest belt of Sahyadri range, the environmentalists had managed to get this area notified during the President's Rule in June 1999.
To de-notify, the state has to now approach the Supreme Court with its proposal.
Though public protests have sprung up to de-notify both the Mhadei and Netrawali sanctuaries, environmentalists allege that these protests are sponsored by vested interests like the mine owners and timber lobby.
Both the sanctuaries, which cover around 20 per cent of state's geographical area, also consist of 43 villages comprising a population of over 16,000. Out of the 319 sq km of area, which the state plans to de-notify, the habitation covers roughly 170 sq km.
"We will give an undertaking to the court to de-notify the non-habitant area as the wild life sanctuary," states Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
After getting it de-notified, he plans to conduct a thorough survey and separate the habitation from forest.
Almost all the political parties in Goa are under constant pressure due to the stringent forest acts, which do not allow any kind of development in the green belt.
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