The Goa bench of the Bombay High Court on Monday directed the state government to notify Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and its surrounding areas as a tiger reserve within 3 months.
The division bench of Justices MS Sonak and Bharat Deshpande, while emphasizing the importance of tiger conservation, quoted a Sanskrit verse from Mahabharata.
The court’s order came in response to a PIL filed by the local NGO, Goa Foundation, urging the Goa government to declare tiger reserves in the state as requested by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
Further, quoting “Mahabharata”, the bench in its order said, “If there is no forest, then the tiger gets killed; if there is no tiger, then the forest gets destroyed. Hence, the tiger protects the forest and the forest guards the tiger!”
In accordance with the Wildlife Protection Act, the court directed the state government to prepare a tiger conservation plan and submit it to the NTCA within 3 months of notifying Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and other areas as a tiger reserve.
The order reads, “We direct the NTCA to render full assistance to the state government for completing the above process and after that to expeditiously process the state government’s tiger conservation plan and take a decision thereon within three months of receiving the plan from the state government.”
As part of the conservation efforts, the state government was further directed to establish anti-poaching camps with forest guards and watchers at strategic locations within the wildlife sanctuary and national parks within 6 months.
Furthermore, the court asked the state government and forest department to take immediate measures to prevent encroachments both during the process of notifying the tiger reserve and afterward.
Regarding the rights of Scheduled Tribes and other forest dwellers, the state government was directed to promptly determine and settle their rights and claims in accordance with the law, preferably within 12 months.
Previously, the Goa government rejected the idea of declaring Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve, leading to opposition from various NGOs who argued that such a declaration would halt Karnataka from diverting water from Mhadei river.
The sanctuary, covering 208 sq km, is situated in the northeastern part of Goa, adjoining Karnataka.
The ongoing water dispute between Goa and Karnataka has been a point of contention, with Goa accusing its southern neighbor of disregarding norms by proceeding with construction unilaterally.
