6 months ago
1
The reply to whether tigers “reside” successful Goa depends connected who is asking the question. The Goa Government, earlier this year, argued earlier a Supreme Court-appointed committee that determination was “...no imperishable beingness of tigers” successful the State.
However, successful a abstracted substance concerning a quality involving Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra implicit the sharing of h2o from the Mahadayi stream successful Goa, it stated the opposite.
“...The State of Goa states that determination is grounds to amusement that tigers successful Goa are not simply transient animals, but are a nonmigratory population, and the forests astir Chorla, Mann and Kankumbi comprise a contiguous tiger scenery corridor to the Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary successful Karnataka to its south-east and the Anshi Dandeli Tiger Reserve to its southbound that has astir 35 tigers.” The second appears successful a 2018 study of the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal. “Thus, were the travel of Mahadayi stream to beryllium impeded,” Goa argued,” it would interaction the prey basal arsenic good arsenic tiger ecosystem”.
Sanctuary proposal
The contented of tiger beingness (or absence) successful Goa has travel to the fore pursuing the Goa Government challenging a July 2023 bid of the Bombay High Court that directed the State to state the Mhadei sanctuary and different connected regions — arsenic recommended by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA, the nodal Central assemblage tasked with overseeing tiger conservation) — a ‘tiger reserve’ wrong 3 months. The Goa Government filed a peculiar permission petition (SLP) successful the Supreme Court challenging this order.
The Goa government’s halfway arguments successful the SLP are that, arsenic per the NTCA guidelines, an country of 800-1,000 sq. kms would person to beryllium declared arsenic an inviolate abstraction for a tiger reserve. The country already nether extortion successful the State, successful the signifier of parks and sanctuaries, added up to 745 sq. km. “Therefore, to state an country larger than the already protected country arsenic an inviolate abstraction would beryllium an aberration.”
Secondly, the country that would person to beryllium declared a tiger reserve had a “huge population” of astir 1,00,000 individuals dispersed crossed respective villages. Given the paucity of alternate areas to settee them and the ‘unwillingness’ of this nonmigratory population, the determination could construe to societal unrest.
In presumption of tiger presence, it argued that lone 3 tigers were recovered done ‘camera trapping’ during the NTCA’s tiger estimation survey of 2018. There was “no evidence” that these tigers were “residents” of the area; determination were nary cubs oregon young animals either.
“The protected country is lone a corridor whereby the tigers transit from Maharashtra to Karnataka oregon vice versa, and the country of Mhadei is lone a route, which is utilized by tigers to transit,” the State argued successful its petition. “Such ‘transitory presence’ of tigers successful Mhadei was owed to precise fewer cervid (as prey), and thus, declaring Mhadei sanctuary arsenic a reserve... would not service immoderate important purpose,” it said.
SC seeks report
The Supreme Court, this September, directed a Central Empowered Committee of the Union Environment Ministry to perceive each the “stakeholders” successful the substance and taxable a study successful “six weeks.” The Committee has reportedly sought an hold to record this.
The lawsuit traces backmost to 2011, erstwhile the Centre and the NTCA made aggregate requests to the State of Goa to notify Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) and definite different adjacent areas arsenic a tiger reserve. But this did not happen. In January 2021, 4 tigers were recovered poisoned pursuing which the Goa Foundation, a non-profit, filed a petition for the portion to beryllium declared a tiger reserve. Doing truthful puts the onus connected the State to amended extortion measures for conservation of animals.
On September 8, 2025, aft counsel for the Goa Foundation informed the apical tribunal that immoderate proposals for resorts were being approved successful the projected tiger reserve, the tribunal stayed each specified enactment till last bid and judgment.
According to the 2022 tiger estimation study by the NTCA — the latest of its benignant — tiger populations successful Goa were “consistently low” since 2014 (five successful 2014, 3 successful 2018), but Mhadei WLS held “significant potential” for the scope enlargement of tigers successful Goa arsenic good arsenic successful the bluish Western Ghats landscape.
