PANAJI
The Goa government has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that no further conversion sanads will be issued for 855 survey numbers identified and demarcated as private forest, in compliance with an interim direction of the Supreme Court.
Goa State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) Member Secretary Sachin Desai filed an affidavit before the NGT in connection with proceedings related to the Terekhol (Tiracol) bridge project.
In the affidavit filed last month, Desai stated that the Supreme Court’s March 3, 2025 order continues to operate and is binding on all concerned authorities. The affidavit was filed in compliance with the NGT’s January 30, 2026 direction to place on record the relevant Supreme Court orders in the matter.
The Supreme Court had directed that no further conversion sanad be issued for the lands covered by the relevant prayer. The prayer sought maintenance of the status quo over all 855 survey numbers, including whole survey numbers and sub-divisions, finally identified and demarcated as private forest by the Thomas and Araujo committees in their December 2018 reports.
“The Supreme Court, by its order dated 03.03.2025 passed in Civil Appeal No. 2135 of 2024, was pleased to direct that no further conversion sanad shall be issued in respect of the lands mentioned in the prayer clause. I say that the said direction continues to operate and binds all concerned authorities,” the affidavit stated.
The private forest areas identified by the Thomas and Araujo committees are currently under review. A committee headed by the Chief Conservator of Forests, which is reviewing the private forest areas, has already submitted 13 interim reports to the government.
The affidavit also records that the Supreme Court’s directions had implications for the Terekhol bridge project. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change subsequently informed the Goa government that the in-principle forest clearance for the project had been kept in abeyance in view of the Supreme Court’s March 3, 2025 order.
