Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane today has moved a file to declare Vagheri as an eco-sensitive area.
Rane this morning called a meeting with PCCF, CCF, Range forest officers, other Forest Department officials, and officials from the Town and Country Planning Department to discuss declaring Vagheri as an ecosensitive area.
“I’d like to draw attention to how illegalities have occurred. Looking at the two images, we can see that the hill at Vagheri has been cleared from the top, but no report has been filed. This is done by a few landowners who have sold their property to outsiders,” said Rane.
He further said that the whole point is to show the people how the canopy has been removed. This was brought to my attentionĀ usingĀ the satellite and Google imagery. He said that he would instruct the department to adopt this technique to monitor eco-sensitive areas every 15 days.
“The PCCF, CCF, North & South DCF, & a member secretary will lead an investigation on the systematic forest canopy clearance. The report must be submitted as soon as possible. CTP from the north and south will also be included. An inquiry will be initiated in this regard,” he added.
Rane said the historical imagery toolbar could go back to the 1980s. However, high-resolution imagery is available for free with a resolution of 5-15 meters from 2002 to 2005, and by using this tool, one can have complete control without visiting the location.
Meanwhile, The Forest Minister said that this system would be implemented in the Goa Forest department, and a Nodal officer will be appointed for the same along with a team to monitor such violations so that people don’t take advantage of the law.