PANAJI
The Goa government on Wednesday informed the Bombay High Court at Goa that two trees had already been felled for the ongoing Porvorim flyover works, while two others would be translocated.
During the hearing of a miscellaneous civil application that raised concerns over the alleged large-scale felling of trees for the project, Advocate General Devidas Pangam clarified that of the 14 trees mentioned in the petition, the government had not granted permission for nine, hence these would not be cut. Of the remaining five, two had been felled, two would be translocated, and one could not be relocated.
The report, prepared after the High Court’s direction to assess the possibility of saving these trees, was accepted by the Division Bench of Justice MS Karnik and Justice Valmiki Menezes.
The Bench has further directed the State to submit a report on the replanting of saplings or trees, providing details such as the species to be replanted, the timeline, and the locations, etc. The Court granted the government four weeks to file the detailed report, which will be reviewed at the next hearing.
At the recent hearing, the Court had directed the Tree Authority Goa to conduct a study on the felling and plantation of trees after senior advocate Norma Alvares pointed out that the Authority granted permission to cut trees without a proper plan for compensatory afforestation.
Months ago, during the start of the project, the Public Works Department had expressed its willingness to translocate trees that would otherwise need to be cut, provided suitable land for replanting was available.
The elevated corridor, a major infrastructure project, is limited by space constraints, with a corridor width of 24.6 metres and acquired land of just 25 metres, leaving little room for tree relocation.
