MARGAO
Nuvem MLA Wilfred D’Sa and the Verna village Panchayat made a fervent plea to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant not to notify the Verna water bodies as wetlands, contending that the entire area is, in fact, an agricultural cultivated field and with residents dotting on its periphery.
Taking cognizance of the representation, the Chief Minister said people need not fear on account of the draft notification, saying the people through their gram sabhas can adopt resolutions citing their objections to wetlands, promising that the government will affidavit in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to leave agricultural fields from the ambit of the wetlands.
“The notification of the wetlands is an NGT issue, where the government is required to file an affidavit after a survey. The Panchayat bodies, who has reservations to certain areas being notified as wetlands, can do a re-survey and seek public opinion. Let the panchayats say that certain areas are not wetlands”, Sawant said.
Asking the people not to unnecessarily panic over the issue, the Chief Minister assured that the government will file affidavits in the NGT stating that certain areas cannot be notified as wetlands because they are agricultural areas.
