Panaji: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday announced a 90-day statewide tree plantation campaign from June 5 to September 5, urging citizens, including school students, to actively participate in greening their localities.
The Chief Minister said trees will be planted along National Highways across Goa as part of the initiative. Saplings will be made available through the Forest and Agriculture Departments to encourage wider public participation.
Addressing the media, Sawant also announced that the Mhaje Ghar programme will be held in Margao on Wednesday, during which sanads and housing orders will be distributed to beneficiaries from South Goa. A similar programme for North Goa is expected to be held soon in Panaji.
According to the Chief Minister, around 3,000 orders under the Mhaje Ghar scheme are ready for distribution. He further stated that more than 90 percent of houses built on government land belong to Goans and reiterated that migrants will not be permitted to construct houses illegally.
On the issue of construction on Comunidade land, Sawant clarified that no permissions for new houses on such land have been granted during the tenure of the present government and that no such permissions will be allowed in the future. He noted that existing houses on Comunidade land were constructed before the current government assumed office.
The Chief Minister added that while neither the government nor the Comunidade had received revenue from these constructions in the past, the government is now collecting the prescribed fees from those who have built houses on such land.
Sawant also addressed concerns over delayed road repair works, stating that hot-mixing operations have been affected due to a shortage of tar. He said officials have been directed to use premix material to fill potholes and undertake temporary road repairs until regular hot-mixing resumes across the state.
