It’s a death knell for Panna Tiger Reserve

The fate of Bundhelkhand’s tigers hang in the balance — along with vultures, golden mahseer and other species, including humans. The sword of Damocles hanging over their — and our — heads is the Ken-Betwa river-linking project presently being steered through the various environmental clearances that should provide protection against an ill-assessed project such as this. Inflated claims of its efficacy, combined with silence on its true costs, along with political pressure, has eased its passage even through the wildlife panels that one might expect to be a stumbling block in its path.

This will be the first dam ever built fully within the Critical Tiger Habitat (CTH) of a tiger reserve. The project proponents claim only 41-58 square kilometres (sq km) of the Panna Tiger Reserve will be affected; the figure of 4,141 hectares (ha) is regularly reported. But this is only the forest area, it does not take into account other tiger habitat. In fact, almost the entire 9,000 ha submergence area falls within the Panna Tiger Reserve, core and buffer. The National Tiger Conservation Authority and senior Madhya Pradesh forest officials have calculated that when all aspects are included, as much as 100 to 200 sq kms will be lost if the project goes ahead. Besides reducing an already small tiger reserve, the reservoir and headworks would bifurcate the habitat, severing over 100 sq kms of the CTH area. It would also prevent tigers from accessing corridor forests to the west.  

For nearly a decade, the Forest Department has done yeoman work in the Panna National Park to bring back the tiger population from its January 2009 extinction. This path-breaking project has won worldwide acclaim. In 2017, there is again a thriving population. Was all this time, money and effort for nought? In 2009, the tigers of Panna were considered important enough to warrant very special attention and funds. Strange that in 2017, their worth is such that they can be comfortably sacrificed for this questionable ‘development’ project.

According to National Tiger Conservation Authority experts, the Panna Tiger Reserve represents “primary riverine vegetation, which is unique in the Vindyan hill range and offers life support system for variety of biodiversity elements, including important populations of endangered vultures and fish species”. Leading tiger scientist Raghu Chundawat, who studied the tigers in Panna for ten years before their local extinction, knows better than most how crucial the Reserve is to maintaining a population here. He draws attention to the fact that “the Panna tigers are the only viable population of tigers in the Bundhelkand landscape”.

One may try to argue that the benefits of the project outweigh the less easily measured but also key benefits of maintaining the area fit for a tiger population. However to assert that the dam and tigers can co-exist and that flooding 90 sq kms of the their habitat will enhance their situation is disingenuous. The proponents argue, for example, that grass growing on drawdown from the reservoir will increase herbivore numbers and that this is a benefit as it will provide more food for tigers. However, this displays ignorance; Panna already enjoys high tiger prey biomass, higher than, or comparable to, the very best tiger areas in India. Limitations on the tiger population in Panna are not food, nor water, they are primarily space and connectivity. The proposed dam will significantly and disastrously reduce both.

But tigers will not be the only casualties. At a time when vulture numbers have plummeted in India, some by as much as 99 per cent, the cliffs along the Ken River provide crucial nesting habitat. Overlaying the proponents’ submergence map with that of vulture distribution, reveals a significant loss of nests and nesting habitat. The Chief Wildlife Warden himself stated that 35 sq km of “unique vulture habitat” and almost 400 nests will be lost to the submergence area. Dams on the Narmada have reduced the once common golden mahseer to endangered status. The Ken river still supports a healthy population of this beautiful fish, but for how long?

The author is a wildlife photographer and hotelier resident of Bundelkhand