Maharashtra wildlife board approves two new sanctuaries and 14 conservation reserves

The state government has taken a major decision to protect wildlife and maintain ecological balance. The 26th meeting of the Maharashtra State Wildlife Board was held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. At the meeting, two reserved forest areas in the state were declared wildlife sanctuaries. Proposals for 14 new conservation reserves in seven districts were also approved.

Forest Minister Ganesh Naik, Additional Chief Secretary (Forests) Sanjay Khandare, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests M. Srinivas Rao, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Srinivas Reddy and MITRA Chief Executive Officer Praveen Pardeshi attended.

The Kolamarka Conservation Reserve in Gadchiroli district is known as a habitat of the wild buffalo, considered extremely rare. The area has now been officially given the status of a wildlife sanctuary. The decision was taken so that the conservation and protection of the wild buffalo can be more effective, it was said.

The second decision concerns the Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary, which lies in Thane and Palghar districts. To make the sanctuary free of human habitation, a proposal for a "New Extended Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary" was approved. The board approved the inclusion of 588.767 hectares of revenue and private land in six villages: Ogada, Khodade, Tirmal, Pachghar, Phansad and Amle.

The conservation reserves have been approved in Pune, Raigad, Nashik, Nandurbar, Thane, Palghar and Chandrapur districts. In Pune and Raigad, they include Velhe-Mulshi and Lonavala, while Bhorgiri Gad is in Pune. They also include Dindori, Surgana and Tahrabad in Nashik, Chinchpada in Nandurbar, Alibag and Gher Manikgad in Raigad, Gumtara in Thane, Jawhar, Asherigad and Dhamani in Palghar, and Ekara in Chandrapur.

The board also approved declaring 100.139 square kilometres of the Koka Wildlife Sanctuary in Bhandara district and 255.79 square kilometres of the Jayakwadi Bird Sanctuary in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar as Critical Wildlife Habitat.

Separate approval has to be taken each time for repair, rehabilitation and desilting work on dams within sanctuaries. The Chief Minister directed that, instead, the management plan be amended and a new standard operating procedure (SOP) be prepared within three months.

The meeting also discussed in detail declaring human-wildlife conflict a "natural disaster", declaring the core and buffer areas of tiger reserves silence zones, and framing a new policy for the rehabilitation of willing villages in buffer areas.