Dept raises ecological alarm in Kolhapur…..Sandeep Ashar
Mumbai: Indiscriminate mining and increasing human activity are causing an ecological disaster in the forest corridor to the north of Sindhudurg,according to state officials.
Spread across 100 sq km,the corridor includes the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve and connects the Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary in Kolhapur district to the Chandoli National Park and the Koyana Wildlife Sanctuary in Satara district.
A senior state forest department official said that six new mines have been proposed in and around the green strip despite its objections.Eight other bauxite and iron ore mines are already functional in the areas.While most of these mines have been proposed on or are functional on private lands,the official said some of them have also staked claim on forest land.
An internal assessment by the forest department recently showed that mining along with poaching and other activities in and around the corridor have led to a break in the tiger habitat in the region.Tigers are on the retreat from there, the official said.
The incursions are also driving other animals away.A survey carried out by the forest department showed that the population of wild ungulates such as sambar,gaur,wild pig and barking deer,which are preys for the big cat,were on the decline
The fall in the density of the sambar population has in particular alarmed the forest department.The sambar is a key food for the tiger.The departments survey revealed that the density of the sambar population in Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary is merely 1.6 sambars per sq km.What is worse,sambars can now be found in only 50% area of the 351-sq-km sanctuary.
While there is no previous official record to compare the latest density record with,forest officials cite sightings as evidence to suggest that sambars were more common earlier.
The gaur population is only slightly better at 4.9 per sq km, another senior official said.
The forest department believes that unless ungulate numbers are revived through conservation and restrictions on mining,attempts to halt the big cats retreat from the Sahyadris would fail.
Following a demand from M K Rao,the conservator of forest,Kolhapur,the forest department has drafted a proposal asking the state government to commission an independent study for ascertaining the impact of human interference,vehicular congestion and noise pollution caused by mining activity on the regions wildlife and flora.
The proposal has already been ratified by Atul Joshi,principal conservator of forests,Nagpur.A Mantralaya-based forest department official said that it would soon be forwarded to the state government.In the meantime,the department has refused to issue clearances to at least three among the six proposed mines.