Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: In a major setback to Goa government, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed all developmental works in and around Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary.
The Court, hearing the Mhadei tiger reserve matter, has directed the Central Empowered Committee to submit a report within two weeks after hearing all stakeholders, including the petitioner and the Goa government. The apex court will take up the case again in six weeks after considering the CEC’s findings.
The case stems from a petition filed by the Goa government challenging the Bombay High Court’s July 24, 2023 order directing the State to declare the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and its surrounding areas as a tiger reserve within three months. The State moved the Supreme Court in September last year and is currently also facing contempt proceedings in the High Court for failing to comply with the order.
National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had recently informed the Supreme Court that, based on the tiger population estimates, Goa was specifically requested to declare Mhadei as a tiger reserve. In its affidavit, NTCA highlighted that the sanctuary holds “significant potential” for range expansion of tigers in Goa as well as the northern Western Ghats.
The authority underscored the need to enhance protection measures, establish inviolate core areas, maintain a healthy prey base, prevent river damming, and ensure habitat connectivity with neighbouring tiger-bearing regions by regulating land-use patterns. “It is important to augment the ungulate population in the sanctuary,” NTCA noted, while also stressing that the decision was not a mere suggestion but one grounded in scientific assessments, technical inputs, and field expertise.
The NTCA affidavit also brought on record findings from the All-India Tiger Estimation (2022), which recorded two adult tigers through systematic camera-trapping but no cubs or younger individuals. The Mhadei sanctuary, located in the northern Western Ghats in Goa’s North Division, shares a contiguous boundary with protected areas in both Goa and Karnataka, making it a vital corridor for tiger conservation.
The Supreme Court’s intervention and referral to the CEC now puts the spotlight back on Goa’s delayed decision on declaring the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve, amid growing ecological and legal pressures.
