Panaji: Goa Bench of Bombay High Court on Thursday issued notices to State government and National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in connection with the Public Interest Litigation filed by NGO Goa Foundation seeking to declare areas in Goa’s wildlife sanctuaries as Tiger Reserve.
Claud Alvares, who filed the petition on behalf of Goa Foundation, said that the 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.
The court has asked Goa government and NTCA to file their affidavits before August 24, 2020 when the matter would be heard by the bench.
He said that the urgent relief is sought in the wake of the tragic killing of four tigers in Mahadayi 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,” he said.
Alvares said that these protected areas of Goa form an integral habitat for tigers in Goa and in the rest of the contiguous Western Ghats complex.
Alvares said that a recent investigation by a two-member team constituted by the NTCA to inquire into the four tiger deaths has also unequivocally recommended the declaration of tiger reserve in the state, failing which, according to it, Goa could become a death trap for tigers.
