CANACONA
At least 10 panchayats in South Goa on Monday sought the exclusion of their villages from the Eco-Sensitive Areas (ESA), as it would severely affect lives and livelihoods in the areas.
Representatives of 10 panchayats presented their views before a central committee at a meeting with stakeholders at Khola in Canacona.
Social Welfare Minister Subhash Phaldessai attended the meeting along with the representatives of village panchayats in Dharbandora, Sanguem and Quepem talukas and later pleaded with the central committee to exclude the villages from the ESAs as sought by these villages.
With Agonda and Shristhal panchayat areas already out of contention for inclusion in the ESAs, representatives of the panchayats of Khola, Gaondongrim, Cotigao, Poinguinim and Loliem-Polem of Canacona taluka also gave their presentations highlighting some critical issues to prevail upon authorities to exclude their areas from proposed ESAs.
According to Khola Sarpanch Krishna Velip, his village depends highly on tourism and made a strong case for exclusion of Khola from the ESA.
The panchayats from Dharbandora, Sanguem and Quepem talukas in their presentation highlighted that the areas are fully dependant on mining (as only source of income) and any diversion from it would have serious implications on livelihood, thereby justifying their demand to exclude their areas from ESA.
The central committee headed by Sanjay Kumar requested the people to present their cases to the central government through State government. The committee declined to accept a joint representation prepared by these panchayats and it was, instead, handed over to the Social Welfare Minister Subhash Phaldessai.
Reacting to the Central Committee’s suggestion, Phaldessai informed the people that the concerns of panchayats would be submitted before Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, and assured the panchayats that the State government would consider their demands to exclude their villages from the ESA.
Sarpanchas, some panch members and panchayat secretaries of all panchayats concerned were present at the meeting to put forth their demands.
