SC stays all devpt in areas of proposed tiger reserve in Goa

Panaji: In a major setback to Goa govt’s ambitious plans to start hinterland tourism activities in five sanctuaries, Supreme Court on Monday granted a stay on carrying out any development activities in the proposed tiger reserve areas in the state.Supreme Court, hearing a special leave petition by the state govt challenging a July 2023 Bombay HC order directing the state to declare Mhadei wildlife sanctuary and its surrounding areas as a tiger reserve in three months, referred the matter to the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) and sought a report within two weeks.The bench of CJI B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and A S Chandurkar said until the report is filed, and SC examines it, Goa govt would not carry out developmental work in the areas which are the subject matter of the Bombay high court order.Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi arguing for Goa said that if the 2023 order for designating wildlife sanctuaries — Mhadei, Bhagwan Mahavir, Netravali, Cotigao and Bondla — as a 1,000sqkm tiger reserve is implemented, the state would have to earmark one-third of its entire geographical area as a protected zone.“If one-third of its geographical area is earmarked as tiger reserve, then tigers will roam the streets not human beings,” Rohatgi said and faulted the HC order for taking the recommendation of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) as gospel truth.

In response to the court’s query as to whether any steps were taken by the forest department pursuant to the NTCA’s recommendation to the state govt to notify the Mhadei-Cotigao wildlife sanctuaries as a tiger reserve, senior counsel Normal Alvares appearing for NGO Goa Foundation said the state govt responded positively to the recommendation and demarcated 745.2sqkm as the tiger reserve, which is why the high court directed it to notify the tiger reserve within three months.The Goa State Board for Wildlife has already outlined a proposed core zone of 587sqkm and a buffer zone of 167sqkm within the existing protected areas, where no relocation is required.Alvares, who has filed a contempt petition on behalf of Goa Foundation against the state govt in the HC, told Supreme Court that the areas for the proposed reserve were already notified as wildlife sanctuaries and national park and that not an inch of Goa’s land outside the existing protected areas was to be notified as a tiger reserve as per the area already demarcated by the forest department.She also said govt was already approving so-called ecotourism commercial projects in the core zone of the proposed tiger reserve.The bench said this issue would require further examination by the CEC, whose assistance in fact finding is taken by SC in environmental matters. SC asked the CEC to give a report based on feasibility of implementation of the HC order of 2023.The NTCA has emphasised the significance of Goa’s Western Ghats strip as a crucial link for tiger conservation.

“If the legal status of Goa’s wildlife sanctuaries is not upgraded to that of a tiger reserve and a strong protection regime is put in place, the state may become a death trap for tigers,” the NTCA report had stated.The 2018 National Tiger Census recognises Goa’s entire Western Ghats strip from Sattari to Netravali as tiger habitat.The Wildlife Institute of India had previously identified Goa’s protected areas, which connect to forests in Karnataka and Maharashtra, as potentially among the Western Ghats’ finest tiger habitats requiring protection.Appearing for the Union environment ministry, additional solicitor general Vikramjit Banerjee told the court that the ministry had little role to play as the issue before the HC was tagged on a 2016 recommendation by NTCA for creating a contiguous forest cover from north to south Goa, which would be fit for a tiger reserve.