Parrikar assures to think over 'tiger reserve' in Mhadei sanctuary
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 10 March 2012 14:48 IST
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has assured school children to think over declaring Mhadei sanctuary as a tiger reserve.
A suggestion in this regard was made by former union environment and forests minister Jayaram Ramesh.
But the former Digambar Kamat government had not responded to it positively.
School children of around 15 schools marched today in Panaji, as a part of Save Tiger movement.
They have demanded to declare Mhadei sanctuary as tiger reserve.
However, Valpoi MLA-elect Vishwajeet Rane, during his ministerial tenure, had approached the Supreme Court, asking to denotify Mhadei as a sanctuary.
Parrikar declined to comment on the issue.
“I don’t want to go into the controversy. But I will definitely think over the demand of tiger reserve”, he said.
Mhadei sanctuary apparently has around 35 tigers in it.
People living in the sanctuary however are being harassed by the forest officials.
Rajendra Kerkar, an environmentalist from Sattari, felt the government should resolve the issue of people living in Mhadei sanctuary while also declaring it as a tiger reserve.
Both Mhadei and Netravali forests were declared as sanctuaries by then Governor Lt Gen (Retd) J F R Jacob during President’s rule in 1999.
Parrikar, during his erstwhile tenure in2001, had however criticized the decision of declaring it as sanctuaries.
His then government had even planned to approach Supreme Court with a cabinet decision to denotify both the sanctuaries.
