The Goa government has reportedly recommended in a presentation to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change ((MOEF&CG) that 21 villages should be excluded from the prospective list of Ecological Sensitive Areas (ESAs) in the Western Ghat. The question to be asked is what has changed in this areas that has prompted the government to make such a recommendation. Is it being done to promote real estate development in these areas? It is pertinent to note that several village panchayats have been promoting construction activities in their respective villages by allowing deforestation and hill cutting. A classic example is the project by Bhutani Infra which got the nod from the Sancoale panchayat after the status of ‘private forest’ was reverted. Eco-sensitive areas provide safe spaces for wildlife to thrive by preventing unsustainable activities and encroachments. Eco-sensitive areas help to minimize human-wildlife conflict. It helps to protect the quality of surface and ground water. In the draft notification issued by MOEF & CG, 108 villages were reportedly included in the prospective list of ESAs for Goa in the Western Ghats. These included 64 villages in North Goa and 44 villages in South Goa.
