Nagpur: Even after being notified after three months, the 270 square kilometer Kanhargaon Wildlife Sanctuary in the Central Chanda Forest Division remains only on paper. The sanctuary was notified on April 5, 2021 after several hurdles, apparently to create more space for tigers and prevent human-animal conflict.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, in a meeting of the State Wildlife Board held on December 4, 2020, decided to give relaxation to the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) to continue logging operations. The final notification was issued on April 5.
Out of 270 sq km, about 252 sq km area that was included in the sanctuary belonged to the FDCM, while 18 sq km was part of the Central Chanda Forest Division. The sanctuary is still under the administrative control of the FDCM.
Although the harvesting has stopped and the commercial corporation has transported the fallen timber, the lack of staff and non-compensation for the forest area lost to carve the sanctuary is a bone of contention.
Chandrapur Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) NR Praveen said, “Though restructuring of staff is an issue, things are being sorted out. We have no option as of now but to keep possession of the sanctuary with the FDCM, otherwise there will be a vacuum. We do not have additional staff because earlier we have sent additional 18 forest guards from Chandrapur to Tadoba and Bamboo Research Training Center (BRTC).
Kanhargaon needs at least 3 RFOs, 6 Foresters and 30 Forest Guards. “The proposal for restructuring is pending with the state government. We have also signed an MoU with Sevak, a Pune based NGO, to prepare the Management Plan of Kanhargaon. Preparation of the plan is in progress,” Praveen said. 3.5 lakh has been paid to the NGO for preparing the management plan.
State Wildlife Board member Kishor Rithe, who played a key role in the creation of the sanctuary, said, “The very purpose of declaring Kanhargaon as a sanctuary defeats the very purpose of declaring Kanhargaon as a sanctuary by not handing over administrative control to the wildlife wing. It calls for the immediate intervention of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who took the bold decision of declaring it a sanctuary on December 4 last year. “
Though FDCM executive regional manager Kushagra Pathak did not respond to TOI’s calls, sources said the corporation wants 286 sq km of reserve forest area in lieu of the area lost for the sanctuary. Of this, 30 sq km is in the Dhaba and Kothari ranges under central Chanda. However, Central Chanda has refused to part with the sector as 96% of its revenue comes from here through logging operations.
On 5 April, Thackeray held a review meeting with the FDCM, in which he asked the corporation to develop barren and barren lands into green areas. The FDCM has demanded more than 250 sq km (25,000 ha) of productive forest in Allapally Division in Gadchiroli in exchange for the area assigned to Kanhargaon. The FDCM also demanded the removal of van majors from the area. No decision has been taken yet.
a long way to go
* In April 2013, the original proposal covered 370 sq km
* The proposal covers 58 sq km of Kothari range in Central Chanda and 312 sq km of FDCM
*Amidst protests a small proposal of 265 sq km was sent to the government on 21 June 2014
* On December 5, 2018, former CM Devendra Fadnavis agreed in principle to declare it a sanctuary, but it never materialized due to protests within
* Uddhav Thackeray finally approved the proposal of 269 sq km in December 2020
* TATR main link for Kanhargaon, Chhapralai, Kaval and Tipeshwar
* A compact block from Tadoba and dispersed population makes the area rich in tigers
*Natural habitat of many wild animals
* Besides tigers, other wildlife includes leopard, wild cat, jackal, fox, deer, sambar, barking deer, blue bull, wild boar, sloth bear, wild dog and gaur.
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