PANJIM: While the State is debating whether to notify a tiger reserve, the boundaries of the already notified protected areas of Mhadei, Netravali, Bhagwan Mahavir and Mollem wildlife sanctuaries are yet to be demarcated.
Pending the settlement rights under the Wildlife Protection Act, these protected areas, which are declared based on only the preliminary notification, are yet to have their boundaries demarcated.
Spread across 208 sq kms, the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary declared as a protected area in 1999, has around 8,500 people residing within the sanctuary housing close to 25 villages.
The Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary since 1969 and the Mollem National Park from 1978 have a human population of around 4,500 while the Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary has another 1,000-odd people living within it.
Sources in the Forest Department told Herald that the protected areas of Mhadei, Netravali, Bhagwan Mahavir and Mollem are yet to be demarcated.
Sources said that the government will have to first settle the claims of human habitants under the Wildlife Act, pending which even a tiger reserve cannot be proposed.
The Revenue Officer-cum-Collector (ROC) has been entrusted with the task of dealing with the claims for settlement under the Act but with wide range of documentation requirement and scrutiny, the process has been delayed.
“To declare any area as tiger reserve, it needs to be free from human settlement first,” the sources said.
The National Board of Wildlife last year, in a communication to all the States had asked them to undertake de-notification or rationalisation of boundaries of the protected areas for better conservation of wildlife and to promote eco-tourism.
