Sawant prioritising real estate over forests: Jairam Ramesh

Panaji: Congress Rajya Sabha member of Parliament Jairam Ramesh said that Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant is determined to hand over Goa’s private forests to builders and real estate developers.
Ramesh said that the Supreme Court’s order to halt the conversion of private forest land in the state is nothing but a “temporary respite” as Goa govt continues to be keen on allowing construction to come up in green spaces and forests.
“This was never done. The Supreme Court’s order is a temporary respite. Bigger battles lie ahead given the single-minded focus of the Goa chief minister to free up forest lands for real estate purposes,” said Ramesh. The apex court recently directed Goa govt not to issue any conversion sanads to any of the 855 private forest plots identified and demarcated by the Thomas and Araujo committees.
He welcomed the Supreme Court’s move to halt the conversion of Goa’s private forest land “at least for the time being” but called for greater vigilance.
“Much earlier, the National Green Tribunal too prohibited the development of denotified forest land until physical verification of all plots was completed,” said Ramesh.