In a bid to contain the damage caused to the BJP-led State government over a recent statement by the Agriculture Minister, Goa Minister for Environment and Forests Rajendra Arlekar has categorically ruled out the possibility of the peacock, the national bird, and the Indian bison, the Goa state animal, being added to a list of vermin.
Mr Arlekar told The Hindu that a controversy had been generated in the media out of a statement by Agriculture Minister Ramesh Tawadkar who said farmers from hill areas had suggested that the peacock, bison, wild boar and certain species of monkeys could be declared as vermin or nuisance animals as they were causing damage to crops. “Take it from me, there is no question of peacock being called vermin in the future,” Mr Arlekar said, adding that same was the case with Indian bison.
Minister’s claim
Mr Tawadkar had said that a committee was assessing whether peacock, bison, wild boars and monkeys be recommended as vermin as they were damaging crops.
Mr Arlekar said as the problem faced by the farmers were genuine, the Forest and Agriculture departments had decided jointly to work out a mechanism to deal with such wild animals without harming them. “But declaring them vermin is certainly not the solution,” he said and reiterated that the Chief Minister had cleared the government’s stance on the issue.
The BJP was the first to distance itself from Mr Tawadkar’s statement, with its spokesperson Pramod Sawant quoting Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar while ruling out any such move. The comments of Mr Tawadkar invited wrath of the Opposition Congress which called it “suicidal” while the Aam Aadmi Party slammed the government for showing scant respect for the Wildlife Act.
The vermin controversy comes even as the government is struggling to contain the damage done by its recent amendment to the Preservation of Trees Act under the Forest and Environment where the government delisted coconut palm from the definition of tree.
While the government defends the decision as one in the interests of farmers to help them do away with unproductive or diseased coconut palms without bureaucratic hassles, the Opposition and civil society groups continue to attack the government saying it has exposed the coconut tree, very much part of State’s culture, to massacre for commercial intents.
Independent MLA Vijay Sardesai, who is planning to start a ‘save coconut tree’ march soon, said people were voicing their dissent in their villages or through the social media against the government’s irrational move to declassify the coconut tree.
