Panaji: The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Thursday issued a notice to the state government and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) on a petition filed by an NGO in connection with the declaration of a tiger reserve in the state of Goa.
The petition states that this PIL is filed in public interest on behalf of the tiger population and associated wildlife of the Western Ghats, seeking directions to the government of Goa to notify a tiger reserve for the tigers of the state and of adjoining wildlife sanctuaries. This urgent relief is sought in the wake of the tragic killing of 4 tigers in Mhadei wildlife sanctuary in January 2020.
The purposeful killing has also revealed the urgent need for better management of the protected areas in the state and of tiger-human conflicts. These protected areas of Goa form an integral habitat for the tigers in Goa and in the rest of the contiguous Western Ghats complex. The petition also says, “The recommendation to declare a tiger reserve for the tiger population of the state has now been made multiple times by the National Tiger Conservation Authority in 2011 and 2016. The government is bound to act on these recommendations, as per Section 38 (5)(i) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. A recent investigation by a two-member team constituted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to inquire into the 4 tiger deaths has also unequivocally recommended the declaration of a tiger reserve in the state, failing which, according to it, Goa could become a ― ‘death trap’ for tigers.”
The court has asked the respondents, state government and others to file their affidavits, prior to taking up the matter on August 24.
The petitioner has prayed for an order directing the respondent state to submit its proposal to notify a tiger reserve – as per the NTCA’s recommendation dated March 31, 2016 and the resolution of the Goa State Board for Wildlife– to the NTCA as mandated under Section 38 (V) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 within time-frame fixed by this court and for an order directing Principal Chief Conservator of Forests to set up anti-poaching camps at strategic locations manned by forest guard/ watchers round-the-clock in the wildlife sanctuaries of Goa.