Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Taking strong cognisance of missing documents related to the proposed Tiger Reserve, the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has directed the Goa Forest Department to lodge a First Information Report (FIR) immediately.
The CEC, constituted under directions of the Supreme Court, has scheduled a visit to Goa in the first week of October for an on-ground review of the Tiger Reserve issue. It is expected to submit its findings to the apex court by the end of October.
At the first hearing held on September 16, petitioner Goa Foundation produced the State Forest Department’s 2018 proposal on the Tiger Reserve. The Foundation’s director, Claude Alvares, pointed out that while the proposal had excluded major settlements from the reserve boundaries, the supporting documents had gone missing. He told the committee that the original file prepared by the Forest Department could no longer be traced, leaving him unable to submit all the annexures referenced in the proposal.
Following this revelation, CEC member C P Goyal questioned the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), who confirmed the disappearance of the file. The CEC then instructed the PCCF to register an FIR regarding the missing documents.
The CEC panel, comprising C P Goyal, Dr J R Bhatt, and Sunil Limaye, is currently hearing the matter concerning the notification of the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and surrounding areas as a Tiger Reserve.
During the hearing, the committee informed stakeholders of its plan to conduct a site visit to Goa in early October before finalising its report. The Supreme Court has directed the CEC to submit its recommendations within six weeks, with the matter listed for detailed hearing on November 12.
