PANAJI
The National Green Tribunal has laid out a fresh deadline of December 31, 2020 for the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) for finalising the Eco Sensitive Zones (ESZ) in the Western Ghats.
Certain concerns were raised about the new proposal submitted by the Goa government. Approval of the proposal in its present form would result in 707 sq kms of land in Goa being categorised as ESZ. Previously, a total of 1,461 sq kms land spread across 99 villages in Goa was under ESZ.
However, in its latest proposal to the central government, the State government has excluded 69 of these villages. It may be recalled that the fourth draft notification dated October 3, 2018 on Eco Sensitive Areas (ESA) in the Western Ghats had expired on September 26.
