Environmental activists on Friday demanded that the Goa government notify a Ti ger Reserve in the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary within a fortnight, accusing it of hypocrisy and inaction despite clear evidence of tigers in the State. Speaking at Azad Maidan, Panjim, Save Mhadei Save Tiger convenor Rajan Ghate highlighted the recent Supreme Court and High Court directives.
“The Supreme Court on September 8 ordered the state government to maintain status quo in the Wildlife Sanctu aries and its surrounding areas marked for Tiger Reserve and referred the matter to the Central Empowered Com mittee (CEC) to hear all parties and submit a report within two weeks. Two days later, the High Court of Bombay at Goa directed the government to stop eco-tourism activities in these Wildlife Sanctuaries,” Ghate said. He recalled that in July 2023, the High Court had direct ed the government to notify Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and other areas as a Tiger Reserve within three months. “But the government decided to appeal against the order and filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court. The government was given proof of the presence of tigers in the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary. Yet the government is us ing taxpayers’ money to fight against the Tiger Reserve.
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The government talks of protecting the Mhadei river but is mocking the people of Goa by permitting resorts in the name of eco-tourism. The government is trying to destroy the existence of tigers,” he charged. Fr Bolmax Pereira accused the government of hypocri sy. “We are demanding the declaration of a Tiger Reserve. But there is mockery and hypocrisy by the government. In 2011, data about the presence of resident tigers was giv en to the authorities, but nothing was done from 2011 to 2020, even as the then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar acknowledged the presence of resident tigers in the State. Tigers represent forests and us, and they also represent the entire biodiversity. But the government is mocking this by using taxpayers’ money to challenge the High Court ver dict.” Fr Bolmax also cited the government’s failure to honor promises regarding environmental protection. “In Novem ber 2020, a group of children met Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, urging him to stop coal transportation in the State and cancel the double-tracking project. He told them he was their chacha (uncle) and highlighted his personal con nection by mentioning he has a daughter.
Sawant promised that coal handling at Mormugao Port would be gradually reduced, but it has since increased. He also referred to the Mhadei river as his mother. These statements, however, amount to hypocrisy. The government should stop mock ing the forest and biodiversity,” he stated Architect Tallulah D’Silva underlined the long-standing public demand for a Tiger Reserve. “I started the Kids for Tigers programme in 2013 and also filed an online peti tion signed by 300 persons in 2009, which was submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), New Delhi.
The then Minister for Environ ment, Jairam Ramesh, had asked the State authorities to declare a Tiger Reserve. Children had also met then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and requested him to declare a Tiger Reserve in 2017. Goa is not listed in the UNESCO Western Ghats Heritage status due to the government’s ap athy. Notifying a Tiger Reserve will not affect livelihoods but will benefit people.” The gathering also heard from members of Chicalim Youth Farmers Club, including Anisha Pereira and Mariano Ferrao, who expressed support for the immediate declara tion of the Tiger Reserve.
