PANJIM: Activists under the banner ‘Save Mhadei Save Tiger’ have written to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his immediate intervention to declare Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve.
The NGO has also approached the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for necessary directions to the State government to initiate steps to declare the wildlife sanctuary as tiger reserve for the protection and conservation of the wild cat.
Addressing media persons on Saturday, activist Rajan Ghate said that declaring Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve will give a big boost to the State’s fight against Karnataka’s Mhadei River diversion plan. “If we declare Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve, our Mhadei River diversion case will become strong in the Supreme Court,” he said.
Ghate claimed that the double engine sarkar of BJP is a complete failure as far as Goa is concerned. “Despite BJP governments ruling at the State and Centre, no efforts are being made to declare Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as tiger reserve or to protect the interest of Goa on Mhadei river diversion,” he said.
Ghate informed that they have written to the Prime Minister and NTCA seeking their intervention to declare the sanctuary as tiger reserve at the earliest. “July 29 is celebrated as World Tiger Day. We demand that Mhadei WLS be declared as a tiger habitat before this day,” he said.
The activist also appealed to all the MLAs to raise the demand during the upcoming monsoon session of the State Legislative Assembly.
Under the ‘Save Mhadei Save Tiger’ initiative, it has been decided to go to all the panchayats, PTAs, religious places, NGOs, sports clubs, etc, and urge them to adopt resolutions to declare Mhadei as a tiger reserve.
Another activist Xencor Polji accused State and Central governments of compromising on Mhadei River for their political benefits. “The recent Karnataka elections have exposed the double faced BJP government, who went all out to support Karnataka on Mhadei issue, just to gain votes,” he said.
Activist Rama Kankonkar demanded that MLAs should demand for half-day discussion in the House on Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary including the river diversion and recent forest fire.
