New Delhi: In a judgment last week, Bombay high court Justices M.S. Sonak and Bharat Deshpande directed the Goa government to declare MHADEI wildlife sanctuary in Goa as a tiger reserve within three months. While striking down the BJP-led Goa government’s plea to postpone the matter, Justices Sonak and Deshpande set the matter straight.
“In the universe, man and animals are equally placed, but human rights approach to environmental protection in case of conflict, is often based on anthropocentricity. Man-animal conflict often results not because animals encroach human territories but vice versa…This Court cannot blink at the reality that often at the State level, regional, parochial, anthropomorphic, and times, even narrow political considerations would prevail over the more significant national interests involved in conserving and protecting the tiger and the tiger habitat,” the division bench comprising Justices Sonak and Deshpande observed, in what may be the most striking comment in recent times in the development versus conservation debate across the globe.
The plea to convert the MHADEI wildlife sanctuary into a tiger reserve was moved by the Goa Foundation, a non-profit environment rights advocacy organisation. Lawbeat reported that the union government and the National Tiger Conservation Authority since 2011 had been making several requests to the Goa government to notify the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary and some contiguous forest areas as tiger reserve. But the Goa government remained opposed to it, citing conflicting interests between forest dwellers and advocates of conservation. However, conservation experts have alleged that the declaration of the wildlife sanctuary into a tiger reserve may restrict the Goa government’s aim to open up forest resources for commercial use.
The matter came to a head when in January 2020 a tigress and three cubs died due to some poisoning in the sanctuary. The Goa Foundation, citing government inaction, moved the high court thereafter. The matter was being heard at the Goa Bench of the Bombay high court since then.
In directing the Goa government to declare the sanctuary as a tiger reserve, the bench observed, “The tiger is a unique animal which plays a pivotal role in the health and diversity of an ecosystem. It is a top predator at the apex of the food chain. Therefore, the presence of tigers in the forest is an indicator of the well-being of the ecosystem. Protection of tigers in forests protects the habitats of several other species. Indirect benefits of preserving a tiger include several ecosystem services like protection of rivers and other water sources, prevention of soil erosion and improvement of ecological services like pollination, water table retention, etc. Conversely, the absence of this top predator indicates that its ecosystem is not sufficiently protected.”
The Goa Foundation’s counsel cited many references in which the Goa government refused to respond to repeated requests by the Union government and the National Tiger Conservation Authority, alleging inaction and failure to stick to its statutory duty on its part. The Goa government, on the other hand, claimed that it had at no point refused to send a proposal to the Union government about converting the sanctuary into a tiger reserve or notify is as one but added that the time wasn’t right for sanctuary to be declared as a tiger reserve as some issues regarding forest dwellers needed to be settled first. Moreover, the Goa government cited the recommendations of Goa’s state board for wildlife which had recently rejected the idea of setting up a tiger reserve in the MHADEI wildlife sanctuary, arguing that such a decision would be “premature” and “not feasible”. Even the chief minister Pramod Sawant said that the Wildlife Act and the NTCA’s guidelines were not fit to be implemented in a small state like Goa.
However, repeated delays in responding to central notices and unclear positions led the high court to rule against the Goa government.
State’s forest minister Vishwajit Rane said that the state government will move the Supreme Court to vacate the order. “After examining the HC order, we shall explore all options before approaching the Supreme Court to have this order vacated. We respect the decision taken by the HC, but as a State Government, we will stand by the decision taken by the State Wildlife Board,” Rane tweeted.