Vishwajeet calls Mhadei sanctuary illegal
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 10 July 2011 20:56 IST
Health minister Vishwajeet Rane has termed Mhadei sanctuary itself is illegal; forget declaring it as a Tiger Reserve.
He has strongly opposed recommendation of the union environment ministry to declare Mhadei sanctuary as Tiger Reserve, since 35 tigers have been identified in this sanctuary.
A letter in this regard was sent by union environment minister Jairam Ramesh to Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat.
Reacting to this, forests minister Philip Neri Rodrigues has said the government would decide on the issue only after seeking opinion of the concerned MLAs in the area.
The Mhadei sanctuary falls in Sattari taluka, especially in the constituencies of speaker Pratapsing Rane’s Poriem and his son health minister Vishwajeet Rane’s Valpoi.
Vishwajeet has now sharply reacted to the recommendation.
“On what basis the union ministry can send such a letter? We want to protect the nature, but also want development”, he said.
The health minister is now planning to urge chief minister to challenge notifying Mhadei sanctuary itself.
Mhadei and Netravali forests were declared as reserved sanctuaries in June 1999, during President’s rule, by then Governor Lt Gen (Retd) J F R Jacob.
The NGOs had requested the governor to take this step, fearing increasing ecological destruction due to commercial activities like mining and timber cutting – both legal and illegal.
The central government at that time was run by the BJP.
Manohar Parrikar, the BJP leader, after coming to power once the President’s rule was imposed, had tried his level best to get the sanctuaries de-notified, but all in vain.
While Parrikar at that time had termed the notifying of sanctuaries as illegal, now Congress MLA Vishwajeet plays a similar tune, when his own Congress government wants Mhadei to be notified as Tiger Reserve.
According to Vishwajeet, the sanctuary is becoming a hurdle in “developmental works” in his constituency.
He has also hit out at the NGOs who, in 1999, had taken up the issue of notifying Mhadei forest as a sanctuary.
ha ha ha ha.. kill all tigers... that is best solution.
cm on... 12 mines will close down. how Goa(?) will develop.
We want more mines in Sattari. pls pls pls