Protecting tiger corridors impossible: Ramesh Vijay Pinjarkar

NAGPUR: The tiger population going up in the state from 103 in 2006 to 169 in 2010 may be good news but the bad news is that there can be no policy to protect corridors required for the tigers to disperse for a viable population.

Talking to TOI on Wednesday, Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh said protecting corridors was impossible as all development would come to a standstill. "We cannot come out with a policy on corridors," Ramesh stressed.

Today, tigers are facing the biggest threat from shrinking and fragmented corridors between protected areas (PAs) connecting each other. Against this backdrop, Ramesh's statement is disturbing. This is despite the fact that environment minister himself admitting that one-third of the tiger population resides outside protected areas (PAs).

Corridors between Kanha-Nagzira-Pench, Navegaon-Nagzira, Tadoba-Melghat are under threat from encroachments, road widening, mining, power and other developmental projects. Ramesh admits that biggest threat is coal mining for a number of power projects. "But let me tell you that the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is not only for protecting tigers but also forests. Tiger is just a symbol — if tigers are gone, so will forests," he stated.

Ramesh felt there would be a lot of hue and cry if a policy on corridors was formulated. According to a study by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), there are 89 villages in the Nagzira-Navegaon corridor, which further extends to Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Chandrapur and Indravati Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh. A similar situation prevails in Tadoba-Andhari corridor where there are equal number of villages.

At present, there is no status to corridors between Kanha, Pench, Navegaon and Nagzira, which is roughly 15,000 sq km. After protected areas (PAs), corridors are the main pockets through which genetic breeding takes place. These are the best conservation units for dispersal of tigers.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Protecting-tiger-corridors-impossible-Ramesh/articleshow/8104819.cms

Chavan announces Rs 50 crore for Vidarbha tribals

Nagpur, Apr 27 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithiviraj Chavan today announced a rehabilitation package of Rs 50 crore for tribals in tiger reserves of Tadoba and Melghat in Vidarbha region of the state. Chavan, who kicked off a whirlwind tour of Vidarbha from today, visited Lekha-Mendha village in Gadchiroli district, along with union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh, and handed over transit passes to tribals there thus offering them right of harvesting and managing Bamboo as a forest produce. Chavan said that "The state government has decided to denotify 32,230 hectares of land and will prepare a draft proposal accordingly and it would be sent to Centre for necessary process." "A large number of irrigation, infrastructure, roads and other projects were held up because of Zudpi-Jangal act which prohibited any activities in the forested areas. The state government will take up the issue with the Centrally Empowered Committee (CEC) before approaching the Supreme Court to denotify the Zudpi-Jangals," he said. Chavan announced that the state Government will allocate Rs 10 lakh each to the families in Kolsa village in Tadoba forest area. Out of Rs 50 crore, Rs 10 crore would be spent on Tadoba and Rs 40 crore on Melghat, Chavan said. Ramesh, who along with Chavan inaugurated the regional office of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), said since a number of tiger projects are located near Nagpur, the government would shortly be preparing a master plan for developing it as an gateway to nearby tiger reserves.

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/chavan-announces-rs-50-crore-for-vidarbha-tribals/664095.html

Bullocks saved my life, KEM doctors limb: Tiger attack survivor, Somita Pal DNA

“My bullocks saved my life and the KEM doctors saved my limb,” said Anil Bhosale, 35, a resident of Kheda village, who was attacked by a tiger on April 20.

It took 10 hours and five doctors from KEM hospital’s orthopaedic department to save his left hand. The doctors had to resurrect his wrist bone as his left wrist had been badly bitten by the tiger.

Anil had gone to feed his cattle when the tiger pounced on him. It attacked the bullocks and later him. The bullocks kicked the tiger to save Anil.

“Anil came to us on Thursday morning with his brother. The tiger had badly bitten his wrist. We first washed his hand, gave him primary aid and took X-rays. His palm was showing some sense of liveliness. So we decided to operate on him as soon as possible and save his limb,” said Dr Pradeep Bhosale, head of the orthopaedic department, KEM hospital.

“We had to cancel two other operations for this,” said Dr Pankaj Agarwal, orthopaedic surgeon, KEM hospital. The operation was headed by Dr SK Srivastava.

“We had taken the plastic surgeon’s opinion before the surgery. We first resurrected the bone. Later, we reattached all the torn tissues in the wrist. Then, we used the skin of abdomen to cover the wound,” added Agarwal. “He is recovering fast. Two of his fingers are already showing some movement,” said Dr Bhosale.

Nitesh, his brother, said, “In our village, tigers keep on attacking our herds. We had complained to the forest officer. It was brave of Anil that even after the attack he drove to the police station to register a complaint, and then went to the nearby hospital.” Anil came to KEM hospital after the local hospital doctors asked him to go to a bigger hospital.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_bullocks-saved-my-life-kem-doctors-limb-tiger-attack-survivor_1536926