Panaji, Apr 26 (PTI) The Goa government will finalise the factual report on private forest areas in the coastal state by May 30, Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane has said.
The report would be submitted to the National Green Tribunal, where the case on the demarcation of these protected lands (private forests) is pending, Rane told reporters in Panaji on Saturday evening.
These private areas are lands owned by individuals but treated as forests by the government.
Rane said, “There should be a proper assessment of private forests. Many people have faced injustice due to errors in the report demarcating private forests.” The forest department has been asked to prepare the final report to avoid any scope for manipulation in future, he stressed.
Rane said a committee comprising forest department officials has been formed and will submit its final report on private forests in the state by May 30, to replace the interim one currently in place.
“I have told them to advertise in newspapers the survey numbers of land in the interim private forest report and to conduct hearings for people whose lands are marked as private forest,” he said.
Rane has asked the committee to examine citizen documents, adhere to procedures, and complete the report, pointing out that the issue of private forest demarcation has dragged on for years.
The minister dismissed apprehensions that there would be additions to the existing private forest areas in the final report.
“No new survey numbers will be added. Only those already identified will be taken into consideration – whether to continue them as private forest or delete them from the list,” he said.
Only those parts that qualify as private forest will remain, he said, adding that forest department officers are accountable for this and the minister does not interfere in it. PTI RPS GK
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