Digital Goa, September 17, 2025 – Hearings on the notification of Goa’s Tiger Reserve began before the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) on September 16, 2025, following a High Court order of 2023. CEC members C P Goyal, Dr J R Bhatt, and Sunil Limaye heard representations from the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Kamal Datta, the State’s Chief Wildlife Warden K Ramesh Kumar, the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the Goa Foundation (represented by Dr Claude Alvares), and legal counsel for the state government. The CEC informed stakeholders that it would visit Goa, preferably in the first week of October, for a field study. The committee is required to submit its report to the Supreme Court within six weeks, ahead of a hearing scheduled for November 12, 2025.
