Court notice to Parrikar’s son over ‘forest damage’

PANAJI: The Bombay high court at Goa on Tuesday issued a notice to chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s son, Abhijat, for allegedly damaging a forest in an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) “in the guise of” building an eco-tourism resort along a wildlife sanctuary’s boundary.

Abhijit Dessai, a member of Netravali village Panchayat, has filed a petition before the court accusing authorities of breaking the law to facilitate “arbitrary and illegal” permissions to Hideaway Hospitality for the resort within a kilometre of Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary’s buffer zone in South Goa . Hideaway Hospitality is said to be promoted by Abhijat. The court has also asked Goa chief secretary, forest secretary, and chief wildlife warden to respond by the next date of hearing on March 11.

The petition alleges that the Eco Sensitive Zone Monitoring Committee granted permission for the resort in contravention of a notification which says tourism development and expansion of existing activities shall not be permitted until a zonal master plan is approved. “There are no approved master plans for Goa’s ESZS and no site inspection was conducted,” Dessai argued.

Abhijat Parrikar did not respond to calls, SMS and email requests for his comments and none of his representatives were present in the court when it issued the notices. The Goa government’s lawyer, Deep Shirodkar, argued the petition should be dismissed as there was an “unreasonable delay” in approaching the court while permissions in question were issued in 2015. Dessai’s lawyer, Carlos Ferreira, argued that work on the resort site had begun a few months ago, which prompted the petition at this stage on grounds of environmental destruction.

There are no approved master plans for Goa’s ESZS and no site inspection was conducted ABHIJIT DESSAI, Petitioner