the goan I network
MARGAO
Tribal body, United Tribals Association Alliance (UTAA) has warned of action if the forest officials involved in the destruction of areca nut trees in tribal-dominated Verlem village of Sanguem taluka are not suspended and justice is meted out to the beleaguered villagers.
UTAA has set 15 days deadline on the government to act against the erring forest official and give justice to the affected people.
Last week, Verlem villagers had set seven-day deadline on the government to suspend the forest officials and register an FIR against them or
face stir.
Addressing the media, UTAA leader Mallu Velip said that an UTAA team that visited Verlem village and has confirmed mass destruction of the areca nut trees in the tribal inhabited village. “There’s an urgent need for the government to initiate action against the forest officials and restore the confidence of the villagers. Members of the ST community had been inhabiting the Verlem village since pre-Liberation era and they cannot be driven out from their habitat just because the area comes within a wildlife sanctuary,” Velip said.
He said UTAA has already petitioned the ST Commissioner Prakash Shankar Velip and government authorities and has disclosed plans to knock the doors of the National Commission of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes
for justice.
