MAPUSA
Forest officials have arrested a JCB operator and also seized the machine allegedly used for the destruction of mangrove trees in Colvale.
Based on a complaint, forest officials rushed to St Francis-vaddo in Colvale and carried out a site inspection and found violations in the area.
In the panchanama, Forest Round Officer, Sagar Morje said that one mangrove tree was illegally uprooted and seven other mangrove trees were illegally felled with the help of the JCB.
“During the site inspection, it is found that the said felling and damaging of mangrove trees has been carried out with the help of JCB machine bearing registration no. GA-03-R-7208 which was found lying at the site of offence,” Morje said in the panchanama report.
Forest officials arrested the JCB operator, Ramesh Chouhan, a native of Jharkhand, while the JCB machine has been detained for further necessary legal action.
Members of the Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) alleged that some members of the Colvale panchayat were involved in illegal landfilling activities in the village.
“The panchas were planning to destroy the mangroves by the side of the road and carry out landfilling in the area to set up stalls which would then be let out to migrants,” alleged Kalpesh Matkar, member of RGP.
He said these stalls will create a lot of nuisance in the village.
He further said that the local panch and deputy sarpanch Liberata Fernandes when questioned about the incident said that the panchayat was undertaking bush cutting in the area.
The RGP member wondered whether a JCB machine was required for bush cutting.
Surprisingly, despite the forest officials declaring that illegal cutting of mangroves had taken place in the area, Colvale sarpanch Sheetal Chodankar felt otherwise.
“It’s not mangrove trees. They are some other plants which have overgrown and are obstructing the people in the locality. Locals from the area had requested us to cut those plants,” Chodankar told The Goan.
