PANJIM: Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane on Friday ruled out the possibility of declaring the protected area and its surroundings as a tiger habitat.
Speaking to media persons, Rane, admitting that wildlife enthusiasts and activists are concerned about tigers frequenting in the State wilds, claimed that the tigers spotted in the State are in transit.
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A month-long tiger census 2022 is currently underway across all the protected wildlife areas of the State.
“I know people are very concerned about tigers as they are extremely passionate. So, I am also a wildlife photographer and have the same passion. But declaring a tiger reserve is not advisable as the tigers spotted in the State are in transit,” the Minister said adding, “Declaring a tiger reserve will have a long-term impact not only on the people residing in the Mhadei sanctuary but across the State.”
Rane explained that the sightings that were reported are of a tiger that travels from neighbouring Karnataka. “The tiger is in transit, it is not native to the region,” Rane said, quoting the information he had received from the Forest Department.
“Declaring any area as a tiger reserve is not advisable in such circumstances. There is no use declaring the area as a tiger reserve,” he added.
Rane said that a tiger census has been undertaken as it will help keep count of tigers entering the State’s wilds.
It has irked wildlife protectors and activists over a two-decade battle to see Goa’s Mhadei wildlife sanctuary getting the status of a ‘tiger reserve’, which does not have the support of the State Forest Minister. (see reactions to this decision in accompanying stories)
The fact is that the tiger presence in Goa has been recorded since 2002 when the animal census conducted by the State Forest Department authenticated the wild cat’s presence in Mhadei area for the first time. The 2010 census showed the presence of five tigers in Goa’s wilds. Tiger sightings in the Mhadei sanctuary thereafter became common.
In January 2020, the carcass of a tigress and her two cubs were found in the Mhadei WLS. Days later, a tiger body was also recovered. The probe had revealed that a local Dhangar family poisoned the tiger family in a fit of rage.
The Minister further said that the Forest Department was working to attract more people to wildlife in the State by setting up various activities under hinterland tourism.
CM assures to settle 5,000 forest rights cases within two years
PONDA: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday announced that 5,000 Forest Right Cases (FRC) and pending mundkarial cases would be settled within two years.
Sawant said this following a request made by Gomantak Bahjujan Mahasang at a function felicitate MLAs belonging to bahujan samaj and Scheduled Tribes (ST) communities.
Sawant said that those residing in forest areas are common men and for several years there were no efforts made to settle the pending Forest Rights Cases which were nearly 10,000. He claimed that it was his government during the three-year period, along with Minister Govind Gaude, that settled 500 Forest Right Cases. “It was a beginning,” he said.
He also assured to clear all mundkarial cases pending in various mamlatdar offices by the end of his current tenure.
