Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane on Friday said the hearings conducted by the committee were almost complete and the final report would be submitted shortly.
"The hearings by the committee are almost complete and the final report should be out shortly. Once we file the report before the NGT, the Supreme Court will also be informed," Rane said.
Sources informed, the CCF-led review committee has so far prepared 13 part final reports, disposing 3,215 survey numbers out of a total 3,349 survey numbers that were provisionally identified by the North Goa and South Goa Forest Division committees, popularly known as the Thomas and Araujo Committees. Around 65 survey numbers are yet to be reviewed.
Sources further said the government has already accepted the first 12 part final reports, which together identified an additional 37.36 square kilometres of private forest in Goa. The 13th report, submitted in May, has proposed another 2.67 square kilometres for inclusion as private forest.
The review committee has been entrusted with reassessing private forest areas identified by the Thomas and Araujo Committees, along with those examined by the Sawant and Karapurkar Committees between 2012 and 2018.
Rane also revealed that the State has filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court opposing the exclusion of any land already identified as private forest.
"The affidavit covers all 554 survey numbers identified as private forests, ensuring that none of these parcels can be removed from protection," he said.
The Minister added that these lands now enjoy an additional layer of protection under the Town and Country Planning Department through the No Development Area provisions introduced under Section 39A of the TCP Act.
Under the State's criteria, land qualifies as private forest if it is contiguous to government forest land or, in the case of isolated patches, has a minimum extent of five hectares.
In 2024, the Goa government, through two notifications issued in compliance with NGT directions, had notified 45.5 sq km and 46.1 sq km of land, respectively, as private forests.
