Goa govt reactivates disaster management committee after Wayanad landslides

Panaji, Aug 9 (PTI) In light of the recent landslides in Kerala that claimed more than 200 lives, the Goa government has reactivated its high-level committee on disaster management, making ground-level revenue officials responsible for reporting illegal hill cutting.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday chaired a high-level meeting of the state disaster management committee, for which state Revenue Minister Atanasio Monserratte and other high-ranking officials at Porvorim were present.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Sawant said the state government has woken up after the Wayanad landslide, reviving its machinery to prevent such incidents in Goa.

Goa shares Sahyadri Hill ranges with Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra.

Sawant said the committee will now be called the state disaster management authority, with dedicated officers working around the year.

He recalled landslides in Sattari taluka inside the forests of Satrem, Karanzol and Mauxi villages in 2022 and said the committee formed to probe the incident had concluded that it happened due to heavy rains and deforestation.

The chief minister said minor landslides have been reported in Bardez, Mormugao, Sattari, Bicholim, Pernem and Salcette talukas in the last few years.

The committee will identify landslide-prone areas, he said.

The main focus would be on the areas on the foothills, and the committee has the power to immediately stop hill-cutting if they find that it could be dangerous to people living in the vicinity.

Sawant said another committee comprising mamlatdars (local revenue officers), zonal agriculture officers and range forest officers will monitor the situation in their respective areas.

Guidelines would be issued to the revenue, forest, town and country planning, public works department, panchayat and urban development departments, which will not allow construction in no development zones and eco-sensitive areas, he said.

Sawant said the state will also take help from the National Disaster Management Authority to identify landslide-prone areas and develop techniques such as early warning systems. PTI