Mumbai, Oct 26: Maharashtra's State Board for Wildlife, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Monday granted wildlife sanctuary status to the Kolamarka Conservation Reserve in Gadchiroli district and approved an expansion of the Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary at its 26th meeting, IANS reported.
Source: IANS via hi INDiA
Kolamarka is widely known as a vital habitat for the endangered Asiatic wild buffalo (Bubalus arnee). The board approved including 588.767 hectares — yaani about 589 hectares — of private and revenue land from six villages, Ogda, Khodde, Tirmal, Pachghar, Phansad and Amle, in the expanded Tansa sanctuary to make it free of human settlements, according to the report.
Source: IANS via hi INDiA
Proposals for 14 new conservation reserves across seven districts — Pune, Raigad, Nashik, Nandurbar, Thane, Palghar and Chandrapur — also received board clearance. The reserves include Velhe Mulshi, Bhorgirigad, Lonavala, Dindori, Surgana, Taharabad, Chinchpada, Alibaug, Ghera Manikgad, Gumatara, Jawhar, Asherigad, Dhamani and Ekara.
Source: Nation Press
The board declared 100.139 sq km in Koka Wildlife Sanctuary and 255.79 sq km in Jayakwadi Bird Sanctuary as critical wildlife habitat, the strictest protection category. It also decided that maintenance, silt removal and dam repair works inside sanctuaries must be integrated into the respective management plans within three months, with wildlife officials notified in advance instead of fresh approvals being sought for every project.
Source: IANS via hi INDiA
Clearances were also granted for essential civic and infrastructure projects — irrigation, drinking water, roads, bridges, power transmission, medical units and underground optical fibre cables — across protected zones, eco-sensitive areas and tiger corridors. Discussions were held on declaring human-wildlife conflict a natural disaster under the Disaster Management Act, and the Chief Minister instructed officials to evaluate staffing, deputations and vacancies within one month for shifting notified sanctuaries to the dedicated Wildlife Wing, the report said. The gazette notifications that legally formalise the approvals are still awaited.
Source: Nation Press