Ramesh tells Karnataka to stop mining in tiger zone

A cabinet decision by Karnataka's BJP government to open up the state's forests, including the Bandipur tiger reserve, for mining has evoked a stern warning from environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh.

In a letter to Karnataka chief minister B. S. Yeddyurappa, Ramesh has said dereserving any forest land can be done only with the prior permission of the ministry of environment and forests.

Ramesh said: "The ministry has not been consulted by the state. Though the state government might have given permission, the final authority for diversion of forest land for non- forestry (including mining) purposes is the Union ministry of environment and forests." The Karnataka cabinet decided to dereserve 13,960 sq km of forest land in the districts of Bellary, Shimoga and Mysore to allow mining there. This is said to have been done keeping in mind the requirements of the Laxmi Mittal headed Arcelor- Mittal group, whom Yeddyurappa is wooing to set up a steel plant in Karnataka.

The move will also benefit friends of Karnataka's powerful tourism and infrastructure minister G. Janardhan Reddy, who is known to be close to Lok Sabha opposition leader Sushma Swaraj.

Yeddyurappa and state home minister V. S. Acharya justified the decision as environment friendly. They said the area identified for mining would be right next to steel plants and would thus reduce the impact of transporting ore to the factory.

Acharya also said the move to de- reserve was taken in conjunction with the Centre.

Ramesh denied Acharya's claim. He said he had come to know about the decision through media reports and after several Karnataka MPs had registered their protest over the move.

"All decisions to be initiated by the companies following the decision of the state government must necessarily get prior approval from the Union ministry of environment and forests," his letter to Yeddyurappa stated.

Prior to this, Ramesh had written to Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat imposing a moratorium on all mining in the state, till a minerals policy was worked out by the Congress government there.

Kamat has been trying to control the mining mafia in Goa, which has allegedly destroyed about 90 km of Goa's 100- km beaches.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/86203/India/Ramesh+tells+Karnataka+to+stop+mining+in+tiger+zone.html

Sathyamangalam in TN could be a tiger reserve

CHENNAI: As the magnificent big striped cats are being repeatedly spotted in the jungles of Sathyamangalam sanctuary, the state government will soon take efforts to turn it into a tiger reserve. Last week, there were as many as five direct sightings during an official survey.

In the six-day carnivore sign survey taken up by the state forest department, five tigers were directly sighted by foresters and volunteers involved in the census in Hasanur and Bhavanisagar ranges of Sathyamangalam forest division, adjoining the Mudumalai and Bandipur tiger reserves. The survey team has also found evidence that there could be four more tigers roaming these forests.

When state forest minister N Selvaraj visited Sathyamangalam, the division’s forest officials briefed him on the need to make it a tiger reserve as there was solid and clinching evidence that the tigers have made the scrub jungles their home over the past few years. “Yes, I was told about the importance of Sathyamangalam forests and the need to make it a tiger reserve. We will certainly consider it,” Selvaraj told TOI.

Sathyamangalam forests link the Eastern and Western Ghats allowing gene flow between diverse populations of the two habitats. Incidentally, the Karnataka forest department has sent a proposal to make Biligiri Rangaswamy (BR) Wildlife Sanctuary, contiguous to Sathyamangalam, as a tiger reserve, officials note.
Tamil Nadu already has three tiger reserves in Kalakad-Mundanthurai, Mudumalai and Anamalai. Sathyamangalam which has been in the spotlight for the past five years for sighting of tigers could be the fourth.

Interestingly, tigers were sighted in Kodaikanal forests after a long time during the six-day survey that concluded on Thursday. A tigress and her cub were spotted playing in the wild. The forest officials are sifting through columns of data scouring for clear evidence to work out an estimate of the tiger numbers based on indirect evidence like pug marks, scats and scratches.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Sathyamangalam-could-be-a-tiger-reserve/articleshow/5629661.cms

Tiger presence reported in Panna

Chronicle News Service
Panna, Feb 28:
Tiger presence has been indicated in Kalda Forest Circle and comes as a positive sign after the Panna Tiger Reserve and this district's jungles were rendered almost tiger-less.
Villagers said that roars were being heard over a week. Recently, a buffalo was hunted in Fulha nullah and a cow in Gahadra nullah.
Forest officials confirmed pugmarks observed in Sarangpur. ''The matter is being probed,'' Reserve Deputy Director Vikram Singh Parihar told reporters.
Pointing out that Kalda adjoins Bandhavgarh National Park, tiger expert Dr Raghunandan Chundawat said that a carnivore could have reached from there.

http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=28273

Census concludes; eight tigers spotted in Wayanad

SULTHAN BATHERY: Around eight tigers were spotted in the tiger census which concluded on Saturday at the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, the Forest officials said on Sunday.

Two tigers each were found at Tholppetti and Muthanga ranges while four tigers were found in Sulthan Bathery range. Two tigers died this year, one at Kurichiad and another at Tholppetti.

The results of the census indicate an increase in tiger population.

The survey team had collected details regarding the tiger population, prey density, herbivore and carnivore count and habitat details like human habitation, cattle grazing, vulnerable areas, foot plasters of carnivores, droppings of various herbivores, vegetation survey and condition of protected areas.

The survey was conducted as part of the nation-wide ‘Tiger Census’ conducted by the Centre in association with the Wildlife Institute of India in the backdrop of the alarming depletion in the ‘big cat’ population . An elaborate training programme also was organised for officials as well as volunteers for foolproof collection of data.

Though another census was conducted earlier in May last year, the result of it is yet to be released.

The details collected would be handed over to the Periyar Tiger Foundation for initial analysis and would be transferred later to the National Tiger Conservation Authority, Dehradun.

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Census+concludes;+eight+tigers+spotted&artid=hqQsaVvA3Fc=&SectionID=1ZkF/jmWuSA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=X7s7i|xOZ5Y=&SEO=