Team Goemkarponn
Panaji: The Goa government has said that declaring Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as a Tiger Reserve would serve no significant purpose and is not feasible, citing the small size of protected areas in the state and the large population living in and around them.
Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane, said the State Board for Wildlife had resolved in July 2023 that legal protections under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 for sanctuaries, national parks, and tiger reserves are almost similar.
The Board concluded that converting existing sanctuaries into tiger reserves would not offer additional safeguards.
Rane said the state has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court challenging a Bombay High Court order directing the government to notify the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as a Tiger Reserve. He clarified that the stretch of the Mhadei River within the sanctuary is already protected under existing law and that tiger reserve status would neither enhance nor reduce that protection.
The minister tabled copies of affidavits filed before the High Court and Supreme Court, court orders, and subsequent official communications. He also disclosed that the government had not conducted any survey to identify residential houses or human habitats within the area proposed for the tiger reserve.
