A few tense moments were witnessed in Benaulim on Wednesday when the owner of a property adjacent to the church decided to level the land. The operator of the excavator apparently strayed into church property and felled around eight trees. The operation was noticed by a vigilant resident who informed the parish priest.
From here events moved quite quickly. The owners of the plot and excavator were arrested and the machine is now in the custody of the forest department. Was this a case of negligence, oversight or plain disregard for Goa's green cover? In such cases there is a simple approach. All the owner of the land had to do was approach the parish priest and request him to be present during the work to ensure that the boundary is clearly defined and the excavator does not stray into adjacent properties. Demarcation of land is not a difficult job provided one takes the trouble to look for the marker stones. Thereafter the erection of two poles with a thread to mark the border would have solved the problem. Now eight trees have been felled and it could take years to grow fresh ones in their place. Trees are not like compound walls which can be restored in a matter of days or weeks. Once felled a tree is lost to the environment and hence greater care needs to be taken by all who undertake construction work.
