No animals, birds proposed to be declared vermin: Goa minister

Panaji, March 16 (IANS) Goa’s Environment and Forests Minister Rajendra Arlekar on Wednesday said no animal or bird was proposed to be declared a vermin in the state yet.

Arlekar’s written reply was tabled in the ongoing assembly budget session after a question by Independent legislator from Fatorda, Vijai Sardesai.

Asked if certain animals or birds were proposed to be declared as vermin and placed in the state government’s list of nuisance animals, Arlekar said: "No animal or bird has so far been proposed to be declared as vermin under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, by the government."

In February, agriculture minister Ramesh Tawadkar said a process was on to declare peacocks, bisons, boars and certain species of monkeys as vermin or nuisance animals because they were damaging crops and horticulture.

While public pressure forced Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar to issue a retraction on the issue of declaring peacocks and bisons as vermin, BJP MP Narendra Savoikar had said boars and certain species of monkeys cause extensive damage to crops and could be declared vermin following due processes at the state and central government levels.