CHANDRAPUR: The officials of Bhadrawati forest range on Thursday arrested three more accused in the poaching of tiger a in Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) way back in 2008. They had on Wednesday recovered the remains of a poached tiger at the border of TATR, near village Doni, after an accused Shalik Gedam pointed out the spot.
The probe into the poachers gang was reinitiated some days back after the arrest of the main accused Shalik Gedam, who was absconding for the last one-and-a-half years. Officials had recovered six-and-a-half kilogram of tiger bones and a nail buried in the ground near a nullah along TATR border on Wednesday. Gedam also named three accomplices and forest officials arrested them on Thursday.
DCF, Chandrapur forest division, MM Kulkarni confirmed the arrests, but he did not gave names or other details. Forest officials are interrogating the three to recover the skin and seven missing nails of the poached tiger.
Meanwhile, authorities of TATR on Thursday said the poached tiger might have been an inhabitant of TATR. ACF Ajay Pillariseth said investigations suggests it could be the tiger which moved in and out of the tiger reserve. "The poaching spot is only a couple of metres away from the tiger reserve, hence the chances of poached tiger belonging to TATR cannot be ruled out. We have initiated investigations and are trying to trace which tiger went missing in that period," he said.
Pillariseth said tigers with territory along the border often move in and out of the tiger reserve, hence it is difficult to keep tabs on them. He speculated that the poached beast might be a tigress which had killed a person from Doni in January 2008.
Friday, November 26, 2010
NTCA wakes up, calls meet on NH6
NAGPUR: Albeit late, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has finally woken up to the violations in four-laning work of National Highway 6 in the 85 km patch between Deori and Lakhni in Gondia and Bhandara districts.
The NTCA, a statutory body under the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) monitoring tiger reserves, has called a meeting at 4 pm on November 30, to discuss the violations and four-laning that cuts tiger corridor between protected areas of Nagzira, Navegaon, Tadoba-Andhari in Maharashtra, Kanha in Madhya Pradesh and Indravati tiger reserves in Chhattisgarh.
Forest officials said it was high time that NTCA took a tough stand on violations. Tiger movement has been reported in Bamhani area where four-laning has been stalled as it encompasses forest area and is part of the corridor. This is for the first time NTCA has called a meeting on the issue. It comes at a time when 90% of the four-laning work in 85-km patch has been completed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). The work had started in March 15, 2008. The Ashoka Highways (Bhandara) Limited has already started collecting toll tax from vehicles from October 18.
Rajesh Gopal, member-secretary of the NTCA, was not available for comments. "CCF (wildlife), Nagpur Circle, and field directors of Kanha and Tadoba-Andhari tiger reserves are among those attending the meeting," said NTCA sources. The meeting assumes significance, specially against the backdrop of Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary and Navegaon National Park and its adjoining areas being upgraded as a tiger reserve. While proposal for Navegaon is yet to be prepared, the Nagzira reserve proposal is already with the state government.
On October 13, the standing committee of National Board for Wild Life (NBWL), headed by union environment minister Jairam Ramesh, 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 issue came up before the NBWL as decision on projects falling within 10 km of national parks and sanctuaries is taken by the NBWL. At several places where the four-laning work was done, Navegaon National Park is within 10 km. The fact was hidden by Gondia deputy conservator (DyCF) Mukesh Ganatra in his report.
State forest officials said they would stick to their stand asking the NHAI to construct open span bridges (flyovers) in five vulnerable patches. These patches include Sirpur-Nawatola (6.300 km); Marhamjob-Dongargaon (4.150 km); Bamhani-Duggipar (3.050 km); Sakoli-Mundipar (3.200 km); and Saundad-Sendurwafa (3.500 km).
"These patches constitute most important corridor vital for the movement of wild animals and cannot be overlooked. The NHAI has spent crores to four-lane the highway but it is not ready to spend a few crores more for wildlife and tigers. The mitigation measures (culvert boxes) proposed by the NHAI do not at all satisfy the need," forest officials told TOI.
The NTCA, a statutory body under the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) monitoring tiger reserves, has called a meeting at 4 pm on November 30, to discuss the violations and four-laning that cuts tiger corridor between protected areas of Nagzira, Navegaon, Tadoba-Andhari in Maharashtra, Kanha in Madhya Pradesh and Indravati tiger reserves in Chhattisgarh.
Forest officials said it was high time that NTCA took a tough stand on violations. Tiger movement has been reported in Bamhani area where four-laning has been stalled as it encompasses forest area and is part of the corridor. This is for the first time NTCA has called a meeting on the issue. It comes at a time when 90% of the four-laning work in 85-km patch has been completed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). The work had started in March 15, 2008. The Ashoka Highways (Bhandara) Limited has already started collecting toll tax from vehicles from October 18.
Rajesh Gopal, member-secretary of the NTCA, was not available for comments. "CCF (wildlife), Nagpur Circle, and field directors of Kanha and Tadoba-Andhari tiger reserves are among those attending the meeting," said NTCA sources. The meeting assumes significance, specially against the backdrop of Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary and Navegaon National Park and its adjoining areas being upgraded as a tiger reserve. While proposal for Navegaon is yet to be prepared, the Nagzira reserve proposal is already with the state government.
On October 13, the standing committee of National Board for Wild Life (NBWL), headed by union environment minister Jairam Ramesh, 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 issue came up before the NBWL as decision on projects falling within 10 km of national parks and sanctuaries is taken by the NBWL. At several places where the four-laning work was done, Navegaon National Park is within 10 km. The fact was hidden by Gondia deputy conservator (DyCF) Mukesh Ganatra in his report.
State forest officials said they would stick to their stand asking the NHAI to construct open span bridges (flyovers) in five vulnerable patches. These patches include Sirpur-Nawatola (6.300 km); Marhamjob-Dongargaon (4.150 km); Bamhani-Duggipar (3.050 km); Sakoli-Mundipar (3.200 km); and Saundad-Sendurwafa (3.500 km).
"These patches constitute most important corridor vital for the movement of wild animals and cannot be overlooked. The NHAI has spent crores to four-lane the highway but it is not ready to spend a few crores more for wildlife and tigers. The mitigation measures (culvert boxes) proposed by the NHAI do not at all satisfy the need," forest officials told TOI.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)