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IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY AT GOA
M.S. SONAK, BHARAT P. DESHPANDE, JJ.
The Goa Foundation, through its Secretary, Dr. Claude Alvares – Appellant
Versus
State Of Goa, Through its Chief Secretary
2. The Goa State Board For Wildlife, through its Member Secretary, CWW
3. The Chief Wildlife Warden, Madei Wildlife Sanctuary
4. Principal Chief Conservator Of Forests (PCCF)
5. National Tiger Conservation Authority
6. Ministry of Environment, Forests & CC – Respondents
PIL Writ Petition No.15 of 2022
Decided on : 24-07-2023
Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 – Section 38-V (1), 38-O – Tiger Conservation Plan – Powers and functions of Tiger Conservation Authority – Whether NTCA’s communication, O.M, action taken report, NTCA's expert committee report and NTCA's communication amount to “recommendations” under Section 38-V(1) of WLPA – Whether provisions of Section 38-V (1) of WLPA, which provides that State Government shall, on recommendation of NTCA, notify an area as a tiger reserve, is mandatory or only directory – Meaning of word “recommend”, when read in context of Rules, shows that it means “giving of a favourable report opposed to an unfavourable one”. (Para 82).
Finding of the Court:
It is not as if no sooner than a tiger reserve is notified, there would be some large-scale resettlement and relocation of Scheduled Tribes or other forest dwellers occupying some areas in tiger reserve – Goa Forest Department officials have ensured that most habitation areas are already excluded from core area of proposed tiger reserve – NTCA's Guidelines of 2012 also contain provisions for promoting coexistence between wildlife and human activity with due recognition of local people's livelihood, developmental, social and cultural rights – Forest Department should disseminate information about these guidelines and policy instead of encouraging the impression that rights of Scheduled Tribes and other forest dwellers would be adversely affected or that there would be some large-scale immediate displacement.
Result : Petition disposed of
JUDGMENT :
M. S. Sonak, J.
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!
-Mahabharat (Kumbhaghonam Edition) – Udyoga Parva: 5.29.57 (NTCA Report on Status of Tigers - 2022)
1. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that 3726 to 5578 tigers live in the wild worldwide. Out of these, the tiger population in India, as per the 2023 Tiger Census, is estimated at 3167. In 1947, at the time of independence of India, the estimate in India was 40,000 tigers. Therefore, in less than 76 years, the tiger population has decreased by almost 92%. The Tigers are still considered endangered and remain on IUCN’s red list, assessing the endangered species status. About 2000 tigers (65%) are estimated to exist within the notified tiger reserves in India. Thus, about 1167 tigers (35 %) are outside India's declared 54 tiger reserves. The exhaustive studies undertaken or commissioned by the Central Ministry of Environment and Forest indicate the need for better-protected tiger source sites, especially tiger reserves, to maintain viable populations. The studies note that the area occupied by tigers outside protected areas has decreased considerably. This demonstrates the need to protect the Tiger Corridors to facilitate the movement of tigers between source sites. (See Jhala Y., Gopal R., Mathur V., Ghosh P., Negi H.S., Narain S., et al. (2021), Recovery of tigers in India: Critical introspection and potential lessons, People and Nature.)
2. The Status of Tigers (Co-predators & Prey) in India, 2014 reports that the Cotigao-Mhadei Mhadei forest complex of Goa comprises five protected areas, namely, Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary (208 km2), Bhagwan Mahavir Wild Life Sanctuary (133 km2), Bhagwan Mahavir National Park (107 km2), Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary (211 km2) and Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary (86 km2) along the Western Ghats ridge. They cover an area of about 750 km2, forming a contiguous belt of forest connecting the forests of Karnataka and Maharashtra. To the south of Mhadei is the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and Bhagwan Mahavir National Park. The Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary lies between the Bhagwan Mahavir National Park on the north and the Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary to its south. This region typically contains evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forest types. The evergreen forests are mainly seen at higher altitudes and along the river banks. This report records that Goa has a persistent tiger presence with about three to five tigers. (See Cotigao-Mhadei Forest Complex of Goa – K. Ulhas Karanth, N. Samba Kumar, Ravishankar Parameshwaran, Arjun Srivathsa, Sushma Sharma, Wildlife Conservation Society – India and Centre for Wildlife Studies)
3. This petition, instituted in the public interest, seeks directions to the respondents to notify Mhadei Wild Life Sanctuary and other areas as a “tiger reserve” under Chapter IV-B of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (WLPA). In any case, the petitioner seeks directions from the respondents to take steps towards notifying Mhadei Wild Life Sanctuary (Mhadei WLS) and other areas as a “tiger reserve” under Chapter IV-B of the (WLPA). In addition, the petitioner seeks an order directing respondent no.4 to set up Anti-Poaching Camps (APC) at strategic locations in the wildlife sanctuaries and national park of Goa to be staffed by Forest Guards/Watchers around the clock to control instances of poaching effectively.
4. A map showing the location of Mhadei WLS in the western ghats landscape with the adjoining forests in Karnataka and Maharashtra is printed below for the convenience of reference. The map depicts “tiger corridors” critical for the tiger's survival in the western ghats.
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