An illegal tree cutting was witnessed by the residents at Taleigao wherein the owner of the land claimed that they had the right to cut down the tree but the residents retaliated stating that the tree belonged to the communidade of Taleigao. Without proper documentation, the felling of trees is being held despite facing opposition from the locals.
On Thursday, local residents gathered outside their house furious at Taleigao for stopping the illegal felling of age-old trees. When the person in charge of the tree felling questioned regarding the documents and required permissions, no response was given to the residents. This infuriated the residents, propelling them to call the police.
“Yesterday (22 May) when we did an inspection of the area, we got to know that the tree fell into the Taleigao Communidade land and not on the land which is privately owned by a person. And this person is allegedly cutting down the tree with no proper documents. Yesterday morning they came to cut down the tree, and we stopped the work. In the evening they came, but we still stopped the work. Now, today morning they have arrived very early to cut the tree,” said Cecile Rodrigues who was present at the spot supporting the locals.
Immediately, police arrived at the spot to investigate the matter. The locals exclaimed to the police about the whole situation and ordered them to stop the work until proper documentation was presented.