I and the Mhadei Tiger Reserve

On July 24, 2023, the Hon. High Court of Bombay at Goa in it's historic judgment delivered on the Monday, directed Goa government to issue notification for declaring the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and it's surrounding forested areas as the Tiger Reserve.This order has endorsed what I have been emphasising, since the period of more than three decades, that the forest of the Mhadei region is the natural habitat for the big cats, and it is the bounden duty of the government to take necessary steps for the protection and conservation of the tigers and it's landscape. After the notification of the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary in 1999, the politicians heading the state government made no stone unturned for denotifying the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary in the name of protecting the interests of the sons and daughters of the land, but with the hidden motive of resuming seven mines from the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary of Sattari and eleven from the Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary of Sanguem. However, the high level committee constituted by the Hon. Supreme Court, passed the order for non removal of even grasses from the sanctuaries in 2003.

The day from which, these sanctuaries were notified by then Retd Lt.Gen. J F R Jacob as the Governor of Goa, I embarked upon the campaign of creating awareness regarding the importance of the notifications, by writing persistently in the local newspapers, as well as conducting the slideshows and taking part in the discussions and debates on the issue, in various parts of Sattari. In 2011, Dr. Claude Alvares of Goa Foundation asked me to present the proposal of the Mhadei Tiger Reserve before the head of the Western Ghats Ecology Experts Panel, Dr.Madhav Gadgil, wherein the map consisting of ecologically rich forested areas of Goa, having the tiger presence was presented along with recommendation for constituting the Mhadei Tiger Reserve excluding the areas of human settlements, agriculture and horticulture, if any falls within the limits of the reserve areas.

From 1998, along with the members of Bombay Natural History Society, I with the volunteers associated with Swami Vivekanand Smruti Sangh, Keri - Sattari, began documenting the presence of the tigers in Goa. Though, I was born in Bicholim, after the completion of the five years, my parents brought me to the ancestral village of Keri, lying at the foothills of the Vagheri, known since the ages as the abode of tigers. Staying in the newly built house in Ghoteli nestled amidst the Kalati and Valvont rivers, encircled by the lush greenery during childhood, I had developed intimate bonding with the surrounding nature and environment. When I was preparing for the SSC exam, I used to go to sleep after hearing the roar of the tiger in the forests of Morlegad.

As a child, in the village, felling of trees, clearing of the forests and poaching of the wild animals was indeed very painful for me. When a pregnant sambar brought down from the forest by the domesticated dog, it was treacherously killed by our neighbours with the axes and choppers for the delicacy of the meat. The tears rolling down from the eyes of the sambar, made me restless and from that day onwards, I took pledge to work for creating awareness against the poaching of the wild animals and gradually involving myself in the initiatives of environment education and protection, under the banner of Swami Vivekanand Smruti Sangh from 1986. Street plays, slide shows, nature orientation camps, workshops, writing articles helped in creating environmental awareness. In 2000, Vivekanand Environment Awareness Brigade was established for focussing mainly on environment education and protection of Wildlife. Our volunteers, who were trained, began the task of rescuing the wild animals as well as monitoring the tiger movements. In 2009, during the summer, information about the killing of the tiger inside the cashew plantation of Wadyer in Keri, made me unhappy. I and our volunteers, meticulously gathered evidences of killed tiger and accordingly on the phone, I had informed Dr. Shashikumar, then Conservator of Forests. Subsequently, I wrote the news report pertaining the tiger that was trapped in wired snare and later on killed unilaterally, destroying all the evidence, eventually resulting in carrying a probe into the incident of tiger killing. Five persons involved in tiger killing were arrested and a gun was seized. Due to the investigation of the tiger killing incident and arrest of culprits created upheaval, that amounted to me suffering the grudge of the locals. I and my family had to suffer a lot on account of bringing to light an incident of tiger killing in Keri. A well known writer, Dr. Rupesh Patkar, published a novel on the incident of tiger killing and aftermath.

As the member of Goa State Wildlife Advisory Board in 2013, we requested then chief minister to install camera traps for confirming the presence of tigers in Goa's forest. On April 13, 2013, Paresh Porob successfully got the images of the tigress relishing on the meat of the wild boar at the foothills of the Vagheri, in the area of Mavalangichepani. Later, on the wildlifers, under the internationally acclaimed zoologist Ullas Karanth confirmed through the camera traps, uniqueness of tigress from forest of Goa. Prerna Singh Bindra, Dr. Sambakumar, A J T Johnsingh visits to my house had enriched my understanding of the big cats. Bittu Sahgal,the former editor of the Sanctuary Asia magazine, always provided a boost up for the mission of the proposal of the Mhadei Tiger Reserve.

Our movement achieved success in convincing the chief minister and the forest minister of Goa, both of whom initiated passing of the resolution in the meeting of Goa State Wildlife Advisory Board in 2016. However, subsequently it could not get the mandatory approval from the Goa government. The Forest department had failed to implement mitigation measures for conservation and protection of tigers . In Spite of this, a tigress gave birth to two cubs, report of it was published in the print and electronic media. When a tigress, a sub-adult tiger along with two cubs unknowingly relished the meat of domesticated animal that was poisoned by the owner, which resulted eventually in the death of four of them in the forests of Golaulim in Sattari. However, no one could get any information about the death of four tigers. During the annual ritual of Bhugat, that is performed inside the natural cave dedicated to the tiger deity, I sent one of the volunteers to get some information about the four tigers that were roaming in the forests. When the inquiry was made casually, the villagers told about killed tigers. Immediately, I informed the deputy Conservator of Forests, who began the investigation of the matter and finally the tragic death of four tigers came to light. It was totally shocking news, unbearable for me.

 
From 2006 to 2019, five tigers were killed in Goa, treacherously. This was indeed irreparable and grave loss to the wildlife, not only of Goa, but of the country too. The National Tiger Conservation Authority had taken a serious note and immediately asked the Goa government to declare the Mhadei Wildlife sanctuary as a Tiger Reserve and rapped the state, saying its efforts to protect big cats were severely lacking. However, no serious thought was given to implement whatever recommendations made by NTCA. Goa Foundation, filed its petition based on the recommendations made by NTCA for issuing directives for the constitution of the Tiger Reserve.

The Bombay High court at Goa, with the bench consisting of judges Mahesh Sonak and Bharat Deshpande delivered the judgment, directing government to issue notification for declaring the Mhadei Wildlife sanctuary with the surrounding forested areas as the Tiger Reserve, within the next three months, referring the quotes from the epic Mahabharata, "If there is no forest, then the tiger gets killed., if there is no tiger, then the forest gets destroyed. Hence, the tiger protects the forest and the forest guards the tiger!"

However, the Forest minister of Goa,reacting with the judgment said that the government would immediately approach the Supreme court to have the SC order vacated. For, the person like me, this judgment given by the HC is the historic one as it firmly established what I was continuously telling about Goa being the land of tigers by the judiciary. When, Goa government makes the decision of constituting the Mhadei Tiger Reserve with the tiger conservation plan, it will be the happiest moment for me and the mission launched from the period of the last three decades.