Team Herald
PANJIM: As Goa intends to battle out Mhadei river diversion dispute with Karnataka for disturbing water flow into the sanctuary, nearly two-decades after being notified as wildlife sanctuary (WLS), the boundaries of protected area of Mhadei is yet to be demarcated under Wildlife Protection Act 1972. More so, this area is declared "protected" based on just a preliminary notification.
After the declaration of Mhadei as WLS in 1999, it took almost a decade for the government to appoint a full-fledged RFO in 2020 and bring the area under the purview of North Goa wildlife division of the forest.
Pending the settlement of rights under Wildlife Protection Act, the areas of not just Mhadei but also of Netravali, Bhagwan Mahaveer and Mollem cannot be demarcated.
During the preliminary meeting of the House Committee, the members had raised concern over non demarcation of Wildlife boundaries and also pending final notification.
Even environmentalists and experts feel that government need to expedite process to demarcate the boundaries to ensure no gap is left in State's fight in the Supreme Court, where Goa has filed an Interlocutory Application for violation of Section 29 of the Act.
Goa has accused Karnataka of violation of Section 29 of the Wildlife Protection Act, as per which there is a complete prohibition to divert any flow of water into or outside the sanctuary from any wildlife sanctuary.
The Kalasa and Bandura Rivulets flow through and within the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and the water from Kalasa Rivulet is one of the prime sources for sanctuary and the wildlife existing therein and also other flora and fauna.
A senior forest official told Herald that protected areas of Mhadei, Netravali, Bhagwan Mahaveer and Mollem are yet to be demarcated. “Pending settlement of claims under Wildlife Act, we cannot go ahead and demarcate the land. That is also the reason why the final notification on these protected areas is also not yet been issued so far,” official said.
The official said that the ROCs are working on the claims but it is not an easy task, as it requires a lot of documentation and field study. “The department is following up with the ROCs for early settlement of rights,” official said.
Spread across 208 square km, the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary has around 8,500 people residing within the sanctuary housing close to 25 villages.
Environmentalist Rajendra Kerkar said that "this might have minimum impact on our case, but Supreme Court can question the delay in notifying and demarcation sanctuary area".
He said that government should take steps to issue final notification of the sanctuary, living aside those areas where claims are made by the forest dwellers. "The State has no will to issue final notification nor to demarcate it," Kerkar said pointing out that Karnataka issued final notification for their part of sanctuary way back in 2012.
During the House Committee meeting, MLAs Venzy Viegas and Adv Carlos Alvares Ferreira had raised the concern. They both had pointed out that government need to expedite process to demarcate Mhadei WLS boundaries and also to issue final notification to strengthen Goa's case in the Supreme Court on wildlife grounds.
Former Union Minister and ex-Law Commissioner Ramakant Khalap also questioned the delay in demarcation of boundaries of WLS. "This is one place, where Goa is falling short. Karnataka can point this out. It's been more than 20 years since Mhadei was declared WLS. Successive governments made no efforts to ensure that final notification is out," he said.
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Govt reconstitutes Eco-sensitive Zone Monitoring Committee
PANJIM: The State government on Friday reconstituted the State level Eco-sensitive Zone Monitoring Committee to effectively monitor the eco-sensitive zones around the protected areas like sanctuaries and national parks.
The Committee headed by the Chief Secretary P K Goel will have Sandeep Azrekar of Nisarga Nature Club, Mapusa; Milind Gadgil of Parshuram Grameen Vikas Sausthan, Brahmakarmali-Valpoi, Prof M K Janarthnam along with other representatives of the State and Central government bodies.
Goa has five Wildlife Sanctuaries -- Bhagwan Mahaveer, Bondla, Netravali, Mhadei, and Cotigao -- besides one National Park at Mollem and a bird sanctuary -- Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary at Chorao.
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has notified areas around the boundaries of the Wildlife Sanctuaries/National Park/Bird Sanctuary in Goa, as Eco-sensitive Zones. The SESZMC is tasked with monitoring the compliance of the provisions of these Notifications.