Urban Forest Proposed Along Panaji’s Miramar Beach

The state government has proposed to create an urban forest in the state capital along the Miramar-Caranzalem beach front. Around 18 hectares land, owned by the state, could be developed into greenery under the Centre’s Nagar Van (urban forest) scheme. A proposal by the forest department and the directorate of urban development suggests that the land, already overrun by vegetation, could be converted into a coastal buffer zone by planting endemic trees and resilient shrubs. Officials from the principal chief conservator of forests, directorate of urban development and Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) conducted an inspection to understand the proposal’s viability. Interestingly, while the scheme stipulates that a minimum area of 10 hectares must be covered, CM Pramod Sawant has urged Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar to reduce the minimum area for urban forests from the proposed 10 hectares to four to five hectares for Goa. Though the state has 18 hectares in its possession, Sawant said that Goa does not have large chunks of land in urban areas. The union ministry for forests, environment and climate change would bear the expenses for fencing the urban forests and for setting up water conservation steps. Expenditure for tree plantation, and other infrastructure should be borne through state government funds or through NGOs and corporate entities. A grant of up to Rs 2 crore will be provided for each urban forest with the ministry estimating that Rs 415 crore will be required for the nationwide project.