PANJIM: The State Wildlife Board’s (SWB) controversial decision not to declare the State’s protected corridors of the Western Ghats region as Tiger Reserve has come as a major shock to the environmentalists, who claim that the government’s “vested interest” decision will spell doom to Goa’s legal battle on River Mhadei before the Supreme Court. The Apex Court is slated to hear the long-pending case in November.
However, Advocate Norma Alvares, who represents petitioner Goa Foundation in the Tiger Reserve PIL before the High Court, questioned the SWB authority to take a decision. “State Wildlife Board is just a recommending or advisory body and it cannot take any decision. The decision has to be taken by the government, which is yet to be,” she said.
Alvares pointed out that the last State Wildlife Board meeting was held in 2018.
She said that the body had decided to undertake a scientific study before taking up the tiger reserve matter for consideration.
She questioned, “Where is that study? Without study, how can the advisory body make a decision?”
The 2020 case of tiger death in Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and the subsequent act of Karnataka to divert Mhadei river water through its Kalasa-Bhandura drinking water project had triggered environmentalists to refresh their long-pending demand for a tiger reserve in the coastal State.
Rajendra Kerkar, a tiger enthusiast, said that such a decision by the State Wildlife Board and the government is “very painful” and “shocking” for the environmentalists like him. “The decision clearly indicates that the government wants to protect the interests of a few vested parties. There are also efforts to de-notify the wildlife sanctuaries including Mhadei,” he said.
Mhadei Bachao Abhiyan (MBA) convenor Nirmala Sawant slammed the government for taking a decision against the interest of Goa and the Mhadei river. “The government needs to strengthen the aspects which will help in stopping Karnataka from diverting the river. Wildlife and tiger reserve is one such strongest aspect,” she said.
Ms Sawant had led the movement to protect the Mhadei river almost two decades back, and demanded that the government make public the “criteria” under which “Goa does not fit into to be a tiger reserve”. “If the government is not able to disclose this, that means there is something else,” she suspected.
She also contended Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s claim of an affidavit being filed in the High Court stating that Goa is not fit for tiger reserve. “Government has never said that. What the government said was that the National Tiger Conservation Authority has made the recommendations and they are not mandatory. In fact, the State told the Court that it would first like to settle all the forest right claims,” she said.
The Save Mhadei Save Tiger – a campaign launched to declare Mhadei wildlife sanctuary as a tiger reserve, has strongly criticised the government. “It is a politically motivated decision taken by the CM and Forest Minister (Vishwajit Rane). Declaring the tiger reserve would have given a major boost to our Mhadei River diversion case. But unfortunately, it looks like we lost it even before fighting,” Convenor Rajan Ghate said.
