Panaji, Aug 8 (IANS): The Goa Assembly on Monday unanimously passed the amendment to the Goa, Daman and Diu Protection of Trees Act, 1984, as a result of which the coconut palm is now re-classified as a tree.
"We have delivered what we promised. We had said that this government would revert tree status to the coconut palm," Agriculture Minister Vijai Sardesai said, after the bill was passed on the concluding day of the monsoon session of the Goa legislative assembly.
The amendment had been cleared by the state cabinet on August 2.
The Opposition as well as civil society had repeatedly accused the previous BJP-led coalition government in Goa of amending the Goa Daman and Diu Preservation of Trees act 1984 in 2016, and dropping the tree status accorded to the coconut tree, to unfairly hasten real estate and industrial development at the cost of environment.