Panaji: Goa Foundation, a petitioner in the tiger reserve matter, has urged the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to direct the authorities concerned to suspend, with immediate effect, all approvals and clearances granted for the Tamnar project, citing the need to notify the affected area as a tiger reserve.In a letter to the NTCA, Goa Foundation pointed to forest and wildlife clearances issued by relevant authorities to facilitate two projects being executed by Goa Tamnar Transmission Project Limited (GTTPL) through the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park in Goa. The foundation argued that the issuing bodies granted these clearances without being informed of a crucial court directive.According to the foundation, when the regional empowered committee of the Union environment ministry and the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife granted their approvals, they were not made aware of a Bombay High Court order directing Goa govt to notify the relevant areas as a tiger reserve based on recommendations made to the state by the NTCA.HC delivered its judgment in a PIL in 2023, directing Goa to notify a tiger reserve that encompasses all four wildlife sanctuaries and the state’s national park. Goa Foundation director Anthony D’Souza said that because SC has not stayed this direction despite an appeal, the area affected by the Tamnar transmission line falls within the proposed tiger reserve.The foundation noted that when GTTPL formulated its proposal for a transmission line through Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park, the area was recognised as a tiger corridor. On this basis, SC allowed realignment of the 400kV transmission line along older power-line alignments running through the sanctuary and national park. However, after the HC’s tiger reserve order, SC, in its order dated Aug 8, 2025, insisted on maintaining the status quo in all areas the HC directed to be notified as a tiger reserve. Goa Foundation said this effectively means no projects can be granted clearance within the wildlife sanctuary and national park.The foundation also cited Centre’s ‘Status of Tigers, Co-predators and Prey in India (2022)’, which notes that tiger habitats often span multiple states. The report states that Goa supports a small but persistent tiger population — estimated at five individuals — records a breeding tigress, and underscores the ecological importance of the Kali–Mhadei landscape for sustaining and expanding tiger populations. It also identifies unplanned development, particularly linear infrastructure, as the main challenge to tiger recovery in the landscape.
