MAPUSA
Parrying a question on declaring the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary a Tiger Reserve, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said the State government was committed to resolve the Mhadei issue.
“What someone said is not important. On the Mhadei issue, the Goa government is serious. We are following up the issue with the Mhadei PRAWA and the Supreme Court. Our government will do whatever has to be done on Mhadei...,” Chief Minister Sawant said, while refusing to make a conclusive statement on tiger reserve.
The CM avoided a direct reply to The Goan whether the government will change its mind and declare Mhadei wildlife sanctuary a Tiger Reserve vis-Ã -vis the statement made by a union minister who said that the tiger reserve proposal in Goa was acting as handicap for the Khalsa-Bhandura water diversion project plan in Karnataka.
Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Prahlad Joshi in a statement on Sunday at Hubballi had said that the Centre was committed to the Khalsa-Bhandura water diversion project but the proposal for a tiger reserve in Goa was creating obstacles to the plan.
Last month, the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court had directed the State government to notify the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary as a tiger reserve within a period of three months.
Soon after the High Court order, the State government had said that it would challenge the decision in the Supreme Court.
