Congress has launched a scathing attack on the Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, accusing him of facilitating backdoor access for real estate interests at the cost of the environment.
A recent Supreme Court order halting the conversion of private forest land in Goa triggered the political storm as the controversy revolves around a 2021 move by the Goa government to form a Review Committee (RC-II) to re-evaluate forest lands earlier identified by the Thomas and Araujo Committee.
The RC-II reversed the classification of 271 survey numbers, thereby opening up over 1.2 Crore square metres of land-previously protected as private forest-for potential development.
The issue has drawn strong criticism from Congress chief spokesman Jairam Ramesh, who posted on social media platforms about the Supreme Court that very recently halted the conversion of Goa’s private forest land at least for the time being.
“Much earlier, the National Green Tribunal too had prohibited development of denotified forest land until physical verification of all plots was completed. This was never done,” said Jairam, who served as Environment Minister in the Manmohan Singh led Congress government.
“The Supreme Court’s order is a temporary respite. Bigger battles lie ahead given the single-minded focus of the Goa CM to free up forest lands for real estate purposes,” the Congress mentioned.
The matter was earlier flagged by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in a September 2023 order.
The tribunal directed the Goa government to physically verify the lands removed from the forest list by RC-II and specifically prohibited any development permissions until that verification was complete.
One plot in particular-survey number 257/1 in Sancoale, now earmarked for a major commercial project-has become a focal point of criticism.
With the Supreme Court’s temporary halt now in place, the Congress has demanded a complete audit of the RC-II process, a freeze on all development on disputed plots, and accountability from the Chief Minister, who held the forest portfolio at the time the RC-II was formed.
This is not the first time Sawant has got into trouble related to land issues. Congress as opposition in the assembly had intensified its criticism of Sawant and his cabinet colleague Atanasio Monserrate, accusing them of a massive Rs 50,000 Crore scam involving Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd’s (ZACL) land.
The discrepancy in the land’s valuation-from 25 paise per square metre in 1971 to Rs 1,19,000 per square metre currently-fuelled suspicions of a massive scam.
