We see this sapling plantation gimmick many times a year by the BJP Goa government and recently the Goa Chief Minister announced that 10,000 saplings will be planted on highways as part of the green corridor initiative. I want to remind the Goa Government that just planting saplings is not enough, a regular update has to be given to citizens on the progress of these saplings to full grown trees and that will be the actual achievement; versus just planting saplings. I think sometimes the BJP Govt tries to deceive people on the tree status in Goa so as to proceed with their 'destruction' mainly with unnecessary housing and infrastructure projects. Generally it’s well known that tree plantation/replacement is more of a deception generally in Goa/India. The facts state that Goa tree cover dropped from 323 sq km to 258 sq km ie roughly 65 sq km loss (20 per cent reduction) just between 2016-2022 mostly under the BJP Govt and the way the destruction of tree cover is taking place it should be much worse now in 2026.
