PANJIM: In what appears to be a brazen defiance of the High Court Order of July 24 directing Goa to notify a Tiger reserve in the Mhadei-Cotigao forest complex, Advocate General Devidas Pangam on Tuesday that there was no need to notify this Sanctuary as Tiger Reserve immediately.
He said that a challenge to the 1999 notification of the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary, pending in the Supreme Court, will suffice for the State government to approach the High Court to seek an extension of the October 24 deadline to declare the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as Tiger Reserve.
AG Pangam said that besides challenging the notification of the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary, the State government has undertaken the process of settling the rights of forest dwellers in the Sanctuary and it is yet to be completed.
Because of this, there was no need to notify this Sanctuary as Tiger Reserve right away. All these issues will be brought to the notice of the High Court, he said justifying the government’s decision to seek an extension of the deadline.
But the High Court has remarked on this issue saying that the failure of the government to settle forest rights cannot itself be an excuse for not notifying a tiger reserve
AG Pangam further said that existing restrictions in the Wildlife Sanctuaries would be applicable to the Tiger Reserve. He said that the State government has already taken all the measures to impose restrictions in the Wildlife Sanctuaries.
The State is also monitoring encroachments in the Wildlife Sanctuaries, he said while referring to the observation made by the High Court in its order.
“I have given my opinion to the government stating that if it wants to file an application then it has to be filed within a week,” he said.
Notified in 1999, the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary is spread over 208.5 square km Sattari taluka.
