PANJIM: In spite of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) repeatedly mooting that Tiger Reserve be carved out from uninhabited core areas of Goa’s protected wild, the battle for a Tiger Reserve continued in the year 2023.
O Heraldo reported how after three months of doing nothing, Goa approached Supreme Court for extending dealing for Tiger Reserve.
On July 24, 2023, the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court ordered the State government to declare the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and its surrounding areas as a Tiger Reserve.
In its 94-page order, the Court issued several directions including preparation of a tiger conservation plan as per the Wildlife Protection Act and submit the same to the NTCA within the same time-frame.
But after three months’ deadline for declaring the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and its surrounding areas as Tiger Reserve, the State government decided to approach the High Court seeking extension of the deadline which ended October 24, 2023.
However, the Supreme Court refused to grant a stay to the High Court order directing the Goa government to notify the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and its surrounding areas as Tiger Reserve, and issued notices to the Goa Foundation, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
Major inferno wreaked havoc, destroyed Goa’s biodiversity
PANJIM: A major fire outbreak at the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary wreaked havoc in the month of March in 2023 as it spread rapidly and destroyed Goa’s biodiversity to a large extent.
O Heraldo reported how the fire also damaged Chorla Ghat, Vagheri Hill, Keri and Charavane and Penda area in Sanvordem village in Valpoi constituency. The Fire Department authorities struggled to douse the fire but in vain. The authorities sought help from the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force (IAF) to bring the fire under control. The fire damaged cashew plantations of few villagers besides, medicinal plants such as Garcinia Indica (Bhinda) and Acacia Concinna (Shikakai) and age-old trees mostly at Satrem and Dedora areas.
To bring the reality of fires to its readers, O Heraldo made a ground level visit to Satrem and adjacent Derode areas to capture every moment of fire and spoke to villagers.
According to the longest-serving Nagargao panchayat member Laxman Gawas, the fire first broke out near the Deepaji Rane Fort and by the time it was doused, fire spread to other places on the hillock.