BJP MLA opposes proposal to include 63 villages as eco-sensitive areas

Panaji, Aug 6 (PTI) A BJP MLA in Goa on Tuesday opposed the proposal to declare 63 villages in the state as the Western Ghats' eco-sensitive areas (ESAs), stating that the move will displace people and they will also lose their homes.

Speaking in the legislative assembly, BJP legislator Deviya Rane who represents the Poriem assembly constituency in Sattari taluka, urged the state government to reconsider the decision by being sensitive towards the people, who have been residing in these villages for the past several decades.

Rane, while speaking on the demands for grants for the Science, Environment and Technology Department, questioned whether the government plans to transport the people living in the forests to the cities by declaring their areas as eco-sensitive.

"Some people demand that their villages be declared as tiger reserves, while some others want their villages to be declared as eco-sensitive areas. But where will the people living in these villages go? Should they go to cities and stay there? The people living in cities will not understand the pain of these villagers," she said.

She pointed out that the draft notification on Western Ghats dated July 2022 included 55 villages in Sattari as ESAs, against which people protested.

Now, the fresh notification issued on July 31, 2024, included 63 villages, she said, adding, "We requested that these villages be removed from the list of ESAs as our people are already reeling under (the restrictions of being in the) Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary." "The people living in these villages for decades are facing difficulties in rearing cattle and also cultivating forest paddy fields as it is Western Ghats and a biodiversity hotspot. We have to also be sensitive towards the local residents. When this notification came up, we immediately said that we don't agree with it," she said.

Rane said the list of ESAs include villages like Bhuipal (in Sattari), which has industries like Automobile Corporation of Goa Limited (ACGL), providing employment to the locals.

"You can imagine how many people are going to be displaced, lose their homes and lose their existence with this notification," she said.

In the past, the people of Sattari had already sent a memorandum with 10,000 signatures to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest expressing their objection.

The Centre on July 31 issued a fifth draft notification to declare over 56,800 square kilometres of the Western Ghats across six states, including 13 villages in Kerala's landslide-hit Wayanad, Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), inviting suggestions and objections within 60 days.

Overall, the notification includes 449 sq km in Gujarat, 17,340 sq km in Maharashtra, 1,461 sq km in Goa, 20,668 sq km in Karnataka, 6,914 sq km in Tamil Nadu, and 9,993.7 sq km in Kerala in the proposed ESA. PTI RPS NP