It didn’t take long for the Goa government to state it would challenge the order of the High Court of Bombay at Goa to declare the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve.
Repetitive communication from the centre to the state government over the years to declare the sanctuary a tiger reserve did not elicit any response from the state.
So, it does appear that the High Court’s three months to declare Mhadei a tiger reserve may take longer, as indications are that the government is set to challenge the order.
Finally, as the government displayed an utterly lukewarm reaction to the tiger reserve, the only option was to take it to the courts and get direction from them, which Goa Foundation did.
The court order obtained this week directed the government to declare the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary a tiger reserve within three months.
Yet, the government is still reluctant, visibly at that, to make the declaration. Instead, it is ready to take this case to the higher court.
So, it does appear that the High Court’s three months to declare Mhadei a tiger reserve may take longer, as indications are that the government is set to challenge the order.
It’s been a long story of delays where the tiger sanctuary is concerned. The first communique from the centre that came in June 2011, suggesting to the state government the submission of a proposal to declare the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) a “tiger reserve” was clear that “there are evidences to show that tigers in Goa are not merely transient animal but a resident population as well”.
Somehow the Goa government has not been very amenable to the fact that tigers are residents of the state, despite there being a number of tiger spottings and tiger censuses confirming the presence of tigers in forest areas.
The state has consistently attempted to dismiss these spottings as tigers that have merely strayed into the state’s forests, arguing that it, therefore, does not need protection in the form of a tiger reserve.
Yet, even if these tigers were using the Goa forests as merely a corridor, shouldn’t the tigers have been bestowed that additional protection?
Environmentalists and tigers lovers would answer in the affirmative as they have lobbied hard to preserve the wild cat and its environment since the first tiger killing case was reported in 2009 in the wilds of Keri in Sattari.
Environmentalists and tigers lovers would answer in the affirmative as they have lobbied hard to preserve the wild cat and its environment since the first tiger killing case was reported in 2009 in the wilds of Keri in Sattari.
One needs to also look at the other benefits that a tiger reserve would bring, which are mainly preserving the biological and ecological area that makes up the tiger habitat, besides obtaining central funds for the maintenance and protection of the forest, improvement of the habitat and eco-development of the people living in the buffer areas of the reserve.
Against the background of the River Mhadei water diversion, the tiger reserve would also help bolster Goa’s case, as this is the catchment area of important rivers, including the Mhadei.
It has been twelve years since that first letter – a long wait for a tiger reserve.
In the meantime, what protection have the tigers who reside in Goa or, as some would have us believe, who merely use Goa as a corridor, received from the government?
We have evidence of a fully grown tigress and three cubs being killed in 2020. Wasn’t that incident reason enough for the government to expedite the process of declaring a tiger reserve?
We have evidence of a fully grown tigress and three cubs being killed in 2020. Wasn’t that incident reason enough for the government to expedite the process of declaring a tiger reserve?
But, there is some hope. The High Court order is well argued, giving valid reasons for its order. One of the arguments of the state was that it had yet to determine and settle the rights and claims of forest dwellers.
The High Court observed that Goa “has defaulted in compliance with the time schedule prescribed under the WLPA” and that “in defiance of directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court dated 22.08.1997, has failed to determine and settle the rights of forest dwellers”.
It further observed that it “now puts forth its own lapses as an excuse for not notifying this area as a tiger reserve. Thus, the State of Goa wishes to take undue advantage of its wrongful acts of defying the statutory timelines and the express direction of the Hon'ble Supreme Court on this subject. Such an excuse can hardly be countenanced”.
Goa and the tigers will still have to wait until the government goes to the Supreme Court and the court passes its order. That will take time and, frankly, one wonders how much time the tigers have.
The reactions from the government on the tiger reserve order do not inspire confidence that the tigers of Goa will have the last roar anytime soon.
Goa and the tigers will still have to wait until the government goes to the Supreme Court and the court passes its order. That will take time and, frankly, one wonders how much time the tigers have.
So, while the discussion of whether Goa is a traditional home for tigers or whether it is a transitory path for tigers from neighbouring Bimgad and Anshi Dandeli tiger reserves goes on, the tigers will have little protection in Goa.
