CB BureauIn its report on the status of wildlife in Goa submitted to the state forest department, Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has suggested including Goa as part of the Tiger Reserve complex. Goa forms part of the corridor connecting Anshi-Dandeli in Karnataka and Sahyadri tiger reserve in Maharashtra.
The Dehradun-based institute has established that tiger occupancy in Goa is about 322 square kilometres. The state can potentially be home to a small breeding population of tigers which would be sustained by immigrants from Anshi-Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary (in Karnataka) as well as Sahyadri Wildlife Sanctuary (in Maharashtra).
The census, conducted in 2010, notes that tiger presence is recorded in Mollem Wildlife Sanctuary and in the forests of Ponda and Sanguem area. Goa has five wildlife sanctuaries and a national park.
State forest department officials said the proposal to declare Goa’s forest areas as a tiger reserve has been under consideration but no final word has been taken on it.
‘There are so many intricacies attached to it once the tiger reserve is announced. We have several human settlements in wildlife sanctuaries. But the process to relocate them is far from over,’ a senior forest department official said.
Environmentalists have, however, claimed that the state government’s reluctance to declare wildlife sanctuaries, especially Mhadei, as a tiger reserve, is aimed at saving Goa’s multi-crore iron ore mining industry. As per the recent Justice MB Shah Commission report, which probed the illegal mining industry of Goa, there are 33 mining leases that are operating within one kilometre of the wildlife sanctuary. Goa exports 43 million metric tonnes of iron ore annually and is the largest exporter state in the country.
Mining in Goa suspended for now
The state mines and geology department has directed in a notice (issued yesterday evening) that all mines in Goa suspend their operations until further notice as the government begins a probe into alleged irregularities. ‘It is necessary in order to scrutinise clearances obtained by the mining lease holders and allowing continuation of mining without proper scrutiny and verification of requisite approval,’ Principal Secretary (Mining) RK Verma said in his order.
The order, however, specifies that the suspension of mining operation ‘shall not affect trade and transportation of ore already mined and existing in the lease hold area, in transit or stored or stocked on jetties.’
A government-backed inquiry estimated that illegal trade in iron ore had cost nearly 350 billion rupees ($6.25 billion) from 2006 to 2011. On September 7, a report from an inquiry by a panel headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice MB Shah claimed that 90 mines operating in Goa were illegal as they did not have the necessary environmental clearances.