Greens call for protection of Goa’s unique lateritic plateaus

Panaji: Environmentalists on Monday expressed serious concern over the approval of an eco-tourism resort project on the Surla plateau, stating that the project area falls within a critical tiger habitat within the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and will cause irreversible ecological damage.

They called on Goa govt to impose protection measures to preserve the state’s plateaus, stating these lateritic plateaus are unique and of massive ecological value.The project on the Surla plateau represents a worrying trend of converting Goa’s fragile laterite plateau ecosystems into concrete jungles, said environmentalist Claude Alvares. “To the untrained eye, these plateaus look barren. But scientific evidence shows they are teeming with life.

Surla is a pristine example of this unique habitat. To sacrifice it for a resort, especially when it is a known tiger corridor, is a monumental and irreversible mistake.

Studies have shown that up to 40% of plants on such plateaus are endemic to the region. These include rare species like Dipcadi goaense, a flowering plant described just 15 years ago and known only from a few Goan plateaus,” Alvares said.The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) identified the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as a prime habitat for tigers and recommended its declaration as a Tiger Reserve.

The proposed resort site on Surla Plateau falls directly within this area. The project threatens to fragment this critical habitat and disrupt tiger movement, said Nandini Velho.“The proposed development on Surla is not an isolated incident but a case study in the systematic destruction of Goa’s plateau ecosystems. This destruction has been fuelled by the official mischaracterisation of these areas as ‘wastelands,’ paving the way for their conversion.

Other plateaus, including Verna, Kundaim, and Bambolim, have been similarly lost to industrial estates and urban development,” said Velho.Villagers in Loliem in Canacona are presently opposing the conversion of Bhagwati plateau for a film city project. The environmentalists urged govt to immediately reconsider all permissions for the Surla eco-tourism project and to formally recognise the ecological importance of Goa’s laterite plateaus, including the Bhagwati, Socorro, and Mandrem plateaus.“Laterite plateaus are unique, iron-rich rocky outcrops found in the Western Ghats region of India. Far from being wastelands, they are seasonal ecosystems that burst into life during the monsoon, supporting a high concentration of endemic and threatened flora and fauna specially adapted to their harsh conditions. They are also critical for groundwater recharge and are the source of countless springs and streams that are vital for homes and agriculture,” Velho said.