NAGPUR: The state government has decided to reduce the area of proposed Mansingdeo Wildlife Sanctuary from 182.57 sq km to just around 132.73 sq km keeping out 49.84 sq km area with Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) and Nagpur Forest Division.
The government will also rename it as Pench Wildlife Sanctuary instead of Mansingdeo. Highly placed sources said that of the proposed three blocks, the government has excluded key Block I consisting of 4,256 hectares (14 compartments) of FDCM and 727 hectares (3 compartments) of Nagpur division totalling 49.84 sq km. As the excluded area includes Mansingdeo (a small temple inside the forests), the remaining area now will be called Pench Wildlife Sanctuary.
“The move is not in wildlife interest. It seems commercial considerations have triumphed over environment and wildlife concerns,” said conservationists.
“The FDCM area is prime tiger habitat and without it, the sanctuary will have no meaning. It's better not to notify it without Mansingdeo. The area is richer than 257 sq km Pench tiger reserve and Mansinghdeo actually helps in maintaining corridor continuity. The FDCM is ready to part with its area for four-laning of highways but not willing to give area for wildlife,” argued Prafulla Bhamburkar of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).
Bhamburkar and Nitin Desai of Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) had first submitted the sanctuary proposal in 1993. Since then, it is hanging fire. The state wildlife board (SWB) headed by chief minister has already given a go-ahead to declare Mansingdeo as sanctuary but some vested interests were successful in excluding the FDCM area.
Mohan Jha, field director of Pench Tiger Reserve, was not available for comments. Chief wildlife warden A K Joshi said, “Yes, I've heard about some compartments being excluded but have no information in this regard. The National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) has asked the state to declare six sanctuaries including Mansingdeo in lieu of reducing 8,500 sq km Great India Bustard (GIB) Sanctuary in Nannaj (Kolhapur) to 1,200 sq km.”
Sources said on June 28, government filed an affidavit with the supreme court that it would declare Mansingdeo as a sanctuary but did not inform it about plans to exclude FDCM area. Senior forest officials refused to comment but said excluded area will be part of 500 sq km Pench buffer and hence wildlife interests would not be hampered.
Conservationists say there was difference between buffer and sanctuary. Keeping Mansingdeo in buffer zone would not stop FDCM from undertaking felling in the area in future. The excluded area is a reserve forests (RF) and felling should not be allowed in RFs. They felt the government should stop practice of giving RFs to FDCM. The corporation was handed over 5,900 hectares of RFs in Nagpur, Chandrapur and Bhandara on September 4 and July 14, 2009, respectively.
“Any move to exclude Mansingdeo area from original proposal will be fought in the court of law,” conservationist Kishor Rithe warned.
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