NAGPUR: The meeting called by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), on Tuesday, to look into the violations in four-laning of national highway No 6 in the 85-km patch between Deori and Lakhni in Gondia and Bhandara districts remained inconclusive.
This was for the first time in the past two years that the NTCA called a meeting in Delhi. It was attended by joint director SP Yadav, chief conservator of forest (CCF) Nagpur Wildlife Circle, AK Saxena, National Highway Authority of India's (NHAI) VK Sharma, assistant inspector general of forests (IGF) Umakant and manager of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) Milind Pariwakkam.
Sources said the meeting remained inconclusive as the principal chief conservator of forests for wildlife is yet to give his opinion on the report submitted by the CCF on series of violations and how the four-laning work cuts tiger corridor. Another meeting will be held on December 20.
Although the official from the state supported his stand of constructing open span bridges (flyovers) in five vulnerable patches which will threaten wildlife, the NHAI official from Delhi was non-committal.
Sharma is learnt to have told the NTCA that the NHAI had appointed consultant RN Indurkar, retired chief wildlife warden, to study the vulnerable areas and accordingly prepared a mitigation plan. However, the report has been rejected by the CCF's office.
On October 13, the standing committee of National Board for Wild Life (NBWL), headed by union environment minister Jairam Ramesh, has already rejected NHAI's proposal to divert 85 hectare forest land (now curtailed to 38 hectare) for four-laning under the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) 1980.
The four-laning work has seen large-scale violations of Forest Conservation Act 1980. It has also destroyed the tiger corridor in many patches connecting Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary and Navegaon National Par.
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