Whether the people of Goa at large are happy or not, the Goa government is not at all pleased with the judgement of the high court on Tiger Reserve. It will challenge the ruling before the Supreme Court.
Goa’s Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane told goanews.com that notifying Mhadei wildlife sanctuary as the Tiger Reserve would have a catastrophic impact on the life of the local people in his constituencies of Sattari.
“We are with the people. We will stick to our policy not to have Tiger Reserve in the sanctuary”, he said.
Rane also said he, along with Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant, have together decided also to seek the help of the central Ministry of Environment and Forest in this regard.
“We will make them a party if required”, he said.
The Bombay High Court at Goa has today directed the Goa government to notify Mhadei wildlife sanctuary and other related areas as the Tiger Reserve within three months from today.
‘Tiger’ wins the high court battle, gets a ‘Reserve’ Forest of Mhadei
“We respect the high court, but I will remain with the people of Sattari”, he said, while also claiming that its implementation will have horrible implications in his taluka.
He however did not elaborate in what manner it would affect the life and livelihood of the locals.
“We will examine the judgement, will seek the opinion of the experts and would challenge the order accordingly”, he quipped.
He also said that the guidelines laid down for the sanctuary have been followed judiciously by the forest department.
“We have not crossed the Laxman Rekha”, he added.
