Private land to be purchased for Maha tiger sanctuary

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, February 9

While forest land across the country face threats of encroachment in the name of development, private land around a Maharashtra tiger reserve is being purchased to provide more room for the big cats.

The Maharashtra Government has given the green signal for a proposal by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to purchase privately owned land around the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) to help expand the sanctuary. Under the proposal put by the Mumbai’s civic body, it will purchase nearly 750 hectares around TATR at market prices and hand it over to the state government which will categorise it as forest land.

“The BMC is constructing the Gargai dam for which 700 hectares of forest land in Thane district will be submerged. Under the Forest (Conservation) Act, the civic body has procured non-forest land and pay for its afforestation as compensation,” Mumbai’s Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi said.

Apart from land in lieu of the dam, the BMC is acquiring another 100 acres around TATR for an underground road it is constructing beneath the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai, according to officials.

While private parties who own some of the land will be compensated in cash, some of the land is owned by the government, according to sources. Moreover, tribal hamlets are located at some of these places.

The residents are, however, being wooed with jobs in the BMC, officials said.

Incidentally, Maharashtra was one of the first states to bring about a law allowing procurement of non-forest lands around wildlife reserves and national parks for the purpose of afforestation and strengthening the protected areas.

Though the law was enacted more than five years ago this is the first time it is being implemented to expanding the periphery of TATR, according to officials. The reserve is home to at least 88 tigers, according to the state forest department.

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