CANACONA
Unhappy residents of Cotigao have accused the Dorest Department of clearing a lot of forest cover in Yedda-Cotigao, claiming that this would displace the wildlife and also cause severe damage to the biodiversity.
Speaking to media persons, the villagers have alleged that the Forest Department has engaged workers to cut some big plants, several bushes, and even chop down some trees.
“On the one hand, you have the State government appealing to people to grow more trees, with even ministers and MLAs showing off by planting and distributing saplings. On the other hand, the government’s own department which is supposed to protect the forests is itself out to destroy the natural forest cover. Where does one go to seek justice for the forest cover destroyed by the Forest Department,” asked Devidas Gaonkar, a tribal activist from Cotigao.
“This activity will not only displace wildlife, but will also cause a severe imbalance of the rich biodiversity.”
“At Yedda, the Forest Department has destroyed natural forest cover and the explanation given is that they want to plant some new saplings,” Gaonkar said.
Speaking further, Gaonkar informed that around eight years ago, the forest department had created a similar situation in Cotigao.
“They had arbitrarily destroyed natural habitat, especially bushes with high medicinal value, on the pretext that they had then declared that some parts of the forests as ‘Reserved Forests’, ‘Research Forests’ and some other type of classifications.”
“In order to understand these divisions, they also dug-up some trenches, erected rubble-stone compounds in the forest. Creating such divisions and separating forested land with trenches can be understood by humans, but how can wildlife understand and survive in such type of artificial divisions, causing inferences in their movements? Don’t they (forest department) have some sense,”, questioned an aggrieved Gaonkar.
Another resident, Brijesh Dessai, added that with such an attitude, it would be difficult to expect the forest department to protect the forest and its wildlife.
Pointing to vast destruction of forest cover, Dessai said, “We can see how the forest personnel have felled some trees and we are told that some new trees and plants will be grown in this land.”
