PANJIM: The demand for declaring the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as tiger reserve is gaining momentum following the deaths of four wildcats, but Health Minister and Valpoi MLA Vishwajit Rane has said that he would not allow tiger reserve in Sattari.
Speaking to media persons on Friday, Rane said, “I will not allow tiger reserve in Sattari, but the government can initiate steps to declare a tiger corridor, considering the movement of the wildcats.”
Minister even claimed that he was not even aware of the existence of tigers in the Sattari’s wildlife, until the carcass of four tigers, that included one tigress and two cubs, were found.
“The tigers that are found in Sattari wild are basically transitory tigers, coming from Karnataka. We can have a tiger corridor to protect these animals,” Rane said.
“But we will not allow tiger reserve in Sattari. Environmentalists don’t run Sattari…people there do. No one has right to declare Sattari as tiger reserve and we will not allow it,” he added.
Rane said that people living in the wildlife sanctuary are already suffering and any further restrictions wills worsen the situation. “Tiger reservation laws are very strict. The entire development will be halted. People will suffer. The people within the sanctuary are yet to be rehabilitated,” he said.
Admitting that tigers need to be protected, the minister said that there has to be some study and one just cannot go and declare it as a reserve.
“A tiger corridor will give much needed protection to the animal. We cannot disturb human settlement anymore,” he said.
The environmentalists have been demanding that the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary be declared as tiger reserve, as census and camera trap method has ascertained presence of five tigers in the wild.
Further, speaking on tiger killing, Rane said that Central government has constituted a team to investigate into it.
“But we need to go into the bottom of the incident. I don’t know the fact, but some people say that tooth of tigers were missing. If this is the case, then we need to investigate it from all angles,” he said.
Rane said that those involved in the crime need to be punished strictly.
Forest Department has arrested four people in connection with the tiger killing.
