Committee to visit in October; report to SC within 6 weeks
PANAJI
Taking serious note of missing files pertaining to Tiger Reserve, the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has directed the State Forest Department to immediately file a first information report (FIR) in the matter.
The CEC is expected to visit Goa in the first week of October for hands-on study on the Tiger Reserve issue. As directed by the Supreme Court, the committee is expected to submit its report by the end of October.
During its first hearing on September 16, the petitioner Goa Foundation made a written submission that included the Tiger Reserve proposal finalised by the State Forest Department in 2018.
Foundation director Claude Alvares informed CEC that the document indicated that all the major settlements had been scrupulously excluded from the boundary of the Tiger Reserve. He informed the CEC that the file dealing with the Tiger Reserve with the government had disappeared, hence he could not produce all the annexures listed in the Forest Department’s tiger proposal.
“Upon hearing this, CEC member C P Goyal asked the PCCF whether this information was correct. The PCCF admitted the tiger proposal file could no longer be found. The CEC asked the PCCF whether an FIR had been filed, reporting the missing file. He directed the PCCF to file the FIR,” Alvares said.
The CEC members included C P Goyal, Dr J R Bhatt and Sunil Limaye has commenced hearings in the matter pertaining to declaring Mhadei wildlife sanctuary and its surroundings as Tiger Reserve.
During the meeting, CEC informed the parties that it would visit Goa, preferably in the first week of October, for a hands-on study of the issue. The CEC has been directed to file its report with the apex court within 6 weeks. The Court has fixed the tiger matter “high on board” for considering the CEC’s recommendations on November 12.
