State forest department, has allegedly failed to declare Mansinghdeo Forest as a wildlife sanctuary. The proposal is apparently delayed due to procedural hurdles.
Once it gets status of a sanctuary, total area of the reserve will go up
State forest department, despite Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh’s instructions, has allegedly failed to declare Mansinghdeo Forest as a wildlife sanctuary. The proposal is apparently delayed due to procedural hurdles.
The CM, during a meeting of the Wildlife Board three months ago, had assured that steps would be taken to resolve the issue at the earliest.
Mansinghdeo Forest lies next to Pench Tiger Reserve on the outskirts of Nagpur. If it is declared as a sanctuary, the total area of the reserve will go up, providing more space for biodiversity.
The proposal to declare 181 sq km area of Mansinghdeo forest as a wildlife sanctuary was sent to the state government four years ago.
Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra has an area of 70 sq km in the forest reserved for revenue generation activities. The corporation was allegedly reluctant to hand the area over to the state forest department, claiming it would result in losses to the corporation.
Sources in the state forest department told DNA, “The corporation has claimed compensation for losses. The delay is because the amount of compensation has not been finalised. We have to consider the loan taken by the corporation. The compensation to be paid to the corporation will be used to repay part of the loan.”
State Forest Minister Babandao Pachpute, however, said, “The state government has decided not to declare new wildlife sanctuaries in the state. Additional funds will be provided to maintain and develop existing sanctuaries.”
Kishor Rithe of Satpuda Foundation said, “It would have been a welcome move if the government had declared Mansinghdeo as a wildlife sanctuary on October 1 when Wildlife Week began.” Rithe added that since there are no villages that fall inside the forest there should be no difficulty in declaring it as a wildlife sanctuary.
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