Environment Ministry rejects proposal to expand Bhopal-Nagpur highway

PTI | 7 Apr, 2013
NEW DELHI: The Environment Ministry has rejected a National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) proposal seeking expansion of a road connecting Bhopal and Nagpur that cuts through a proposed tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh.

The Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife, chaired by Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, has accepted an expert panel report which said that four-laning of NH-69 within the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary "cannot be permitted currently" as tigers and other wild animals will be "more vulnerable" to be killed on the road, MoEF sources said.

The decision came amid tussle between the two sides over highway projects through forest areas.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had earlier endorsed the report prepared by NBWL Standing Committee Member Prerna Singh Bindra and NTCA official Rajeev Sharma.

The NHAI had sought denotification of 58.5 hectares of forest land in Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary to upgrade the two-lane NH-69 to four lanes to facilitate "higher, faster and night time" traffic between the cities of Bhopal and Nagpur.

Rejecting the proposal, the report had said the impact of roads went beyond wild animals ending up as road kill.

"Forests on the sides of the roads become heavily degraded and over time, their usage by wild animals diminishes. Besides, they allow access into wilderness areas, bringing with them ancillary development. Further expansion of the road will only accelerate these," it had said.

National Highway-69 goes through 44.6 km of forest area including 12.44 km through Ratapani sanctuary which is very close to Bhopal.

Admitting that the condition of the road is "very bad", the report has said the best alternative was to repair the road and strengthen it.

The sanctuary has been proposed as a tiger reserve and accorded in-principle approval by the NTCA. The last census indicates presence of 16 tigers in the sanctuary.

The team headed by Bindra has recommended that notifying of Ratapani Tiger Reserve be expedited for more focused wildlife management and conservation of wild cat.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/infrastructure/environment-ministry-rejects-proposal-to-expand-bhopal-nagpur-highway/articleshow/19425279.cms

Five chitals translocated to Ralamandal sanctuary

Bagish K Jha, TNN | Apr 5, 2013

The translocation was important, as for
the first time an entire exercise was executed by
the state forest department with the
technical guidance of Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

INDORE: Five chitals (spotted deer) were successfully translocated to Ralamandal Wildlife Sanctuary during the wee hours of Tuesday. It is first time in the recent past when the translocation of wildlife has been done without any fatalities and injuries; all the chital were in healthy condition at the time of their introduction in Ralamandal.

Fifteen more chitals will be translocated to Ralamandal from Van Vihar in Bhopal during the next one month. The forest department will monitor the movement of the chital for one month and if everything remains fine then the chital will be translocated to Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary, Narsinghpur and few other reserved forest areas in state.

Principal Secretary of forest department, BP Singh said they were scared before the translocation of the chital, so only five were sent in the first batch. "The success of the translocation has given confidence to the department now, so, many such translocations will be carried out in the coming months," Singh said adding that the translocated animals will be monitored for next one month.

The translocation was important, as for the first time an entire exercise was executed by the state forest department with the technical guidance of Wildlife Institute of India (WII). "WII gave us intellectual inputs in preparing the plan for the movement and the Boma van in which the animals was transported, was brought from South Africa," Singh said.

Forest minister Sartaj Singh was excited about the translocation exercise. "We are happy that everything was done successfully without causing any injury to the animals. It will help the department in gaining expertise in this process and will open up avenues for further translocation," the forest minister said.

Elaborating about the movement, the chief conservator of forest (CCF), PC Dubey said they were waiting for this for quite some time. "Chital are very sensitive animal and they suffer from capture myopathy syndrome under which an animal gets shocked when captured and transported. Many times, a chital dies or sustains injuries during translocation," Dubey said, adding that this time, the department has come up with a successful technique to deal with it.

A Boma vehicle, specially designed for the purpose, was used to capture the animal in their natural condition. Then in the late evening, the van started from Van Vihar and it was stopped at Daulatpur were the chital were given fodder and after a five-hour drive, they were released in Ralamandal.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Five-chitals-translocated-to-Ralamandal-sanctuary/articleshow/19397882.cms