Will the Kawal Tiger Reserve (KTR) ever assume the form of an environmental haven which it is meant to become?
This question was thrown up in the light of the recent large-scale felling of trees in the Pembi forest range and other developments connected with the reserve in Adilabad district.
“What should be the pride of Telangana State could actually end up as its shame if things are allowed to continue in this fashion. There is a dire need for initiating stringent conservation activity to make the place safer for wild animals, and trees of course,” stated an angry conservationist involved in the development of this facility, as he contemplated on the future of KTR.
The KTR, with a core area of 892 sq km and buffer of 1,123 sq km, came into being in 2012 following which conservation activity was launched full scale within the area. Poaching, sand mining and illegal felling of trees was kept under control until the last quarter of 2014.
Incidents of poaching, open selling of meat of wild animals and illegal sand mining surfaced during that period bringing the Forest Department and the Forest Ministry under some disrepute as the Forest Minister Jogu Ramanna belongs to this district. Illegal felling of trees peaked with the decimation of nearly 500 trees in the Pembi range considered to be one of the worst managed ranges within Nirmal Division, also considered to be among the worst managed divisions.
After dragging its feet for an unduly long period, the government recently posted a field director apparently to strengthen management in the KTR.
There however, is no clarity on the issue of administrative control of the core and buffer areas so far and the officer is headquartered at Nirmal town which is located at one end of the Reserve.
It may be stated here that the best managed Tiger Reserves in the country, like the neighbouring Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Chandrapur of Maharashtra, has a field director assisted by two deputy directors managing the core and buffer areas respectively.
“The government has to give permission on such control,” observed Adilabad Conservator of Forests T.P. Thimma Reddy.
