Until the 1960s, the district headquarter town, Adilabad, was surrounded by dense forest on the south and east which was home to many species of wild animals including tigers. Though the forests are highly depleted now, some of the wild animals seem to have miraculously survived the onslaught of human interference over these years as found by the forest department recently.
“We have a leopard, foxes, jungle cat, nilgai, spotted deer, porcupine, sloth bear and of course wild boar in Mavala forest,” Adilabad Forest Divisional Officer V. Chandra Shekhara Rao reeled out the names of species which were caught on camera trap during the last three months since the Forest Department began developing Mavala Reserve Forest into an urban lung space called Nandanavanam. “We procured 16 camera traps and set them up close to the Mavala water tank on a hunch,” he recalled of the effort which immediately fetched result.
Mavala water tank is located close to Mavala village, about 6 km from Adilabad town. The dry deciduous forest with teak being the flagship species had extended on the east and west side of this facility built during the time of the Nizam but the four-lane national highway 44 passing through it had fragmented it effectively in 2008-2009.
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“There is good vegetation towards the east which is connected with the fringes of Kawal Tiger Reserve,” Mr. Rao assured. “We have increased protection after ‘rediscovering’ the animals,” he added of the measures the department is taking.
Though the forest is being developed as a lung space there will be less of human interference as the vegetation is being protected aiming at natural regeneration of the species. “We are clearing out weeds so that the natural species get a chance to regenerate,” the FDO explained.
Among other developments that the department has taken up at the park is creation of water holes for the animals and a watch tower for closer monitoring besides the 5-km-long walking track which will be used for patrolling by the forest staff. Though Mavala tank itself has been the prime source of water for the animals the artificially created water holes will provide more relief to animals as the former has a lot of human activity in and around it during day time.
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The place is likely to be proposed to be elevated as a national park in near future. “We are in the process of readying the proposal,” disclosed Adilabad District Forest Officer B. Prabhakar.