Goemkarponn Desk
PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that the government will try and exclude maximum villages from Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA).
In a draft notification from the environment ministry, 108 villages in the Western Ghats are designated as ecologically-sensitive areas (ESAs). Chief Minister Pramod Sawant advised Goans not to exacerbate this situation.
According to him, the government would make sure that the greatest number of communities are excluded from the Center’s final notification. “To inform as few villages as possible under the ecologically-sensitive area tag, the government is following up with the Center,” he stated.
He added that the draft plan will not affect the homes or means of subsistence of the residents of these settlements.
“Villages with thick forests, species continuity, and elevation in the Western Ghats are the target of the draft notification.” In the ESA communities, residents are free to construct homes, erect sheds, and carry on with their regular lives. But mining and commercial operations will not be permitted, he declared.
It was stated that other states including Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Gujarat are included in the draft notification on ESAs. A total of 108 villages in Goa, spread over 1,461 km throughout the Western Ghats, have been notified as ESAs in the 6th draft notification released by the Union government on July 31. Of these, 64 villages are located in North Goa and 44 are located in the south.
