Published: Wednesday, Jan 5, 2011, 11:32 IST
By DNA Correspondent | Place: Satara (Maharashtra) | Agency: DNA
The protest march by villagers against the Sahyadri Tiger Project took an ugly turn on Monday evening when angry villagers pelted stones on the forest department (wildlife) office in Patan in Satara district.
The villagers were agitating against the Sahyadri Tiger Project, which was initiated last year by combining the Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary and Chandoli National Park.
The rally, led by Zilla Parishad (ZP) member, Rajabhau Shelar; Patan Panchayat Samiti’s former president, Satyajeetsinh Patankar; ZP’s former deputy president, Vikrambaba Patankar; and Panchayat Samiti president, Pooja Kadam; started from Koynanagar bus stand.
However, when the villagers reached the forest office, they suddenly started pelting stones at the forest office and broke the doors and windows. They also raised slogans like ‘Save man, not tiger’.
Opposing the project, spread over four districts of Satara, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur and Sangli, they submitted a memorandum to tehsildar, Pralhad Hiramani.
There are 90 villages in the buffer zone of the project and 83 villages in the core zone. Though the villagers will not be relocated, the project shall restrict development activities in the hamlets.
Main problem is that , the investigating officer appointed under Wildlife (protection) Act 1972, has passed clear cut orders after hearing all the concerned parties and under his powers by section 24, 25 of the said act he has excluded areas on eastern side of the Koyana Reservoir from the Proposed Koyana WLS. This order is passed way back in 1998. Appeals against it are already dismissed. This fact is overlooked and Tiger Project is thumped on the area when the underlying Koyana WLS is also not having final notification.
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