Team Herald
PANJIM: Mining activist Puti Gaonkar has demanded that government should first protect the rights of villagers, living within the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary, before declaring any area as tiger reserve.
Addressing media persons on Wednesday, Gaonkar also slammed the environmentalist for destroying mining industry and livelihood of lakhs of people in the name of environment protection.
Gaonkar, who had led a protest in 1999 against declaration of Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary, said that the sanctuary was declared without excluding human settlement, agriculture land and other cultivable area. “The final notification on the sanctuary is yet to be out. We want that human settlement and their livelihood activities should be excluded from the purview of wildlife sanctuary,” he said.
Draft notification of the sanctuary was issued on June 2, 1999. As per the records, from the total 16,105 hectares of village area, an area of 14,236 hectares has been notified as sanctuary, covering almost 25 villages. Around 10,000 people reside in these villages.
Admitting presence of tiger in the Mhadei wilds, Gaonkar said that declaration of tiger reserve has to be done in consultation with the villagers, especially those residing within the sanctuary. “It is important that we protect rights of these people,” he said.
