Sanctuary, adjoining Pench Tiger Reserve in the district. Such a move would lead to holding back denotification of Nannaj Bustard Sanctuary in Kolhapur, Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh has told Maharashtra chief minister.
The National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) had asked the state to notify six sanctuaries including Mansinghdeo in lieu of reducing the area of 8,500 sq km bustard sanctuary in Nannaj to 1,200 sq km. In a letter to chief ministerAshok Chavan on July 28, Ramesh said that his ministry may keep denotification of bustard sanctuary in abeyance if there was any move to reduce the area of Mansinghdeo sanctuary.
Based on TOI report on July 8 that Mansinghdeo area was being reduced, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) chairman M K Ranjitsinh raised the issue with Ramesh, who then wrote to Chavan. Ramesh has written to the chief minister emphasizing that Ranjitsinh was one of India's most distinguished wildlife experts with 50 years' experience and his concerns on Mansinghdeo should be fully considered.
Under alleged pressure from Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM), the government has decided to reduce the proposed Mansinghdeo sanctuary area from 182 sq km to around 143 sq km, keeping out 39 sq km area of FDCM forests and a portion of Nagpur Forest Division. As Mansingdeo area will be out, the government also planned to rename the proposed sanctuary as Pench Wildlife Sanctuary instead of Mansinghdeo.
Of the proposed three blocks, the state has excluded entire Block I consisting of 4,256 hectares (14 compartments) of FDCM and 727 hectares (3 compartments) area of Nagpur division totalling 4,985 hectares. "The government move will hit wildlife hard. The state is planning to reduce the best forest area which has connectivity to Nagzira, Pench, Tadoba and Melghat," Ranjitsinh told TOI.
"The original Mansinghdeo proposal was of 182 sq km, but we want it to be enlarged to 230 sq km by adding some more forest area. By deleting Block I, the Maharashtra government is just doing khanapurti (formality)," the expert added.
"The FDCM area is prime tiger habitat and without it, the sanctuary will have no meaning. It's better not to notify it without Mansinghdeo. The area is richer than Pench and Mansinghdeo actually helps in maintaining continuity. We want more area on the right side of Nagpur-Deolapar Road on national highway 7 to be added," said Prafulla Bhamburkar of WTI.
Ranjitsinh lamented that the state wants to denotify 8,000 sq km bustard sanctuary but is not ready to notify Mansinghdeo sanctuary.
The National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) had asked the state to notify six sanctuaries including Mansinghdeo in lieu of reducing the area of 8,500 sq km bustard sanctuary in Nannaj to 1,200 sq km. In a letter to chief ministerAshok Chavan on July 28, Ramesh said that his ministry may keep denotification of bustard sanctuary in abeyance if there was any move to reduce the area of Mansinghdeo sanctuary.
Based on TOI report on July 8 that Mansinghdeo area was being reduced, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) chairman M K Ranjitsinh raised the issue with Ramesh, who then wrote to Chavan. Ramesh has written to the chief minister emphasizing that Ranjitsinh was one of India's most distinguished wildlife experts with 50 years' experience and his concerns on Mansinghdeo should be fully considered.
Under alleged pressure from Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM), the government has decided to reduce the proposed Mansinghdeo sanctuary area from 182 sq km to around 143 sq km, keeping out 39 sq km area of FDCM forests and a portion of Nagpur Forest Division. As Mansingdeo area will be out, the government also planned to rename the proposed sanctuary as Pench Wildlife Sanctuary instead of Mansinghdeo.
Of the proposed three blocks, the state has excluded entire Block I consisting of 4,256 hectares (14 compartments) of FDCM and 727 hectares (3 compartments) area of Nagpur division totalling 4,985 hectares. "The government move will hit wildlife hard. The state is planning to reduce the best forest area which has connectivity to Nagzira, Pench, Tadoba and Melghat," Ranjitsinh told TOI.
"The original Mansinghdeo proposal was of 182 sq km, but we want it to be enlarged to 230 sq km by adding some more forest area. By deleting Block I, the Maharashtra government is just doing khanapurti (formality)," the expert added.
"The FDCM area is prime tiger habitat and without it, the sanctuary will have no meaning. It's better not to notify it without Mansinghdeo. The area is richer than Pench and Mansinghdeo actually helps in maintaining continuity. We want more area on the right side of Nagpur-Deolapar Road on national highway 7 to be added," said Prafulla Bhamburkar of WTI.
Ranjitsinh lamented that the state wants to denotify 8,000 sq km bustard sanctuary but is not ready to notify Mansinghdeo sanctuary.
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