One of the prominent voices in the conservation community, wildlife conservationist Giridhar Kulkarni has challenged the Cen tral Empowered Committee’s (CEC) recommendation on the proposed Goa Tiger Reserve, warning that the move to classify parts of Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and Bhagwan Mahavir National Park as buffer zones violates the Wildlife (Protection) Act and National Ti ger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines. In his latest representation, he has written to the Goa Chief Minis ter, Forest Minister, Chief Secretary, the Additional Director General (Wildlife) of the Ministry of Envi ronment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC), the Member Secretary of the NTCA, the Principal Chief Con servator of Forests and Chief Wild life Warden of Goa, NTCA’s Region al Office in Bengaluru and all CEC members. The intervention comes just days after the CEC submitted its zon ing plan for the tiger reserve to the Supreme Court, triggering a fresh round of scrutiny over how core and buffer areas have been drawn in Goa. Conservation groups and legal experts have been closely evaluating the recommendations ahead of the State’s re sponse. Kulkarni said the CEC’s proposal to treat sections of BhagwanMahavir WS and BhagwanMahavir NP as buff er is not legally permissible, pointing to NTCA guidelines that restrict buffer areas to revenue land, private hold ings or forest tracts outside existing Protected Areas. He warned that reclassifying these areas as buffers could di lute their protection and open the way for infrastructure projects — such as railway doubling, transmission lines, highways and tourism expansion — under more relaxed norms. He added that the move could lead to conflicting man agement mandates and weaken community trust, particu larly in areas that may face tighter restrictions if shifted into the core. He argued that the proposed core — limited to Netravali and Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuaries — is too small to support a viable tiger population and must be expanded to include Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and the full extent of BhagwanMahavir WS and BhagwanMahavir NP, which sus tain Goa’s best tiger habitats and provide crucial connectiv ity to Karnataka’s Kali Tiger Reserve. Kulkarni noted that inhabited pockets in these areas have been set aside for consultations but stressed that eco logical criteria, not administrative convenience, must guide core delineation. He urged the CEC to revise its plan accordingly, saying a legally compliant and ecologically sound structure would protect Goa’s existing Protected Areas and bolster public confidence in the tiger reserve process
The battle for Goa’s coretiger habitat intensifies
