Special Correspondent
Panaji
The Town and Country Planning (TCP) Board has decided to protect all private forests and state wildlife sanctuaries at any cost, acting on letters received from the forest department.
The Board also ruled that all survey numbers of private land falling within private forests will be protected, including those previously removed from the private forest category.
Announcing the decision, TCP Minister Vishwajit Rane said that an affidavit has already been filed in the Supreme Court regarding the matter. “In addition, there is a stay from the Supreme Court on the removal of the private forests, and hence it’s the duty of the state government, forest department and TCP department to ensure their protection,” he said.
Rane said that the government intends to establish a “double-layer protection” mechanism. This will involve coordinated action between the forest department and the TCP department to safeguard both, private forests and the state’s wildlife sanctuaries.
