The Tipeshwar control is moving from Pench to Melghat | Nagpur updates
Nagpur updates:- In the first, Tipeshwar (149sqkm) and Painganga (425sqkm), wildlife sanctuaries in the Yavatmal district were placed under the administrative control of the Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR), Amravati.
MS Reddy, additional Chief Forest Conservator (APCCF) & field director of MTR, was asked to take over charge of two sanctuaries with immediate effect. The GR, for this reason, was released on Friday.
Reddy, which already manages over 3,058sqkm of land, which includes 8 wildlife sanctuaries and 1 national park in 3 districts, will now have an additional 574sqkm of jurisdiction. The total area under his rule will be 3,633 km2. Nevertheless, the Isapur Wildlife Sanctuary (121sqkm), which is part of the Pusad Territorial District, has been abandoned.
The reasoning behind the move of the two sanctuaries to Melghat is that these protected areas (PAs) fall under the Amravati revenue division. Until now, the PAs were part of the Nagpur Revenue Division. The Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Wildlife Officer, Pandharkawda, used to look after Tipeshwar and Painganga. Now he’s going to report to the Melghat field director.
The field under Melghat will now be similar to what APCCF (wildlife), East Nagpur, HS Hooda, is looking after. It will be like having two parallel APCCFs for wildlife in the Nagpur and Amravati revenue divisions.
Hooda, who has the Tadoba-Andhari, Navegaon-Nagzira, Bor, and Pench tiger reserves and the Umred-Karhandla sanctuary under his jurisdiction, will no longer be in charge of Melghat and the other sanctuaries he has used to manage.
As far as the new GR is concerned, Reddy must immediately report to the PCCF (wildlife) Nitin H Kakodkar, who will be his controlling officer.
Talking to TOI, Kakodkar said, “The new decision is part of the pending proposal sent to the government last year. All Tipeshwar and Painganga sanctuaries were put under the Amravati Revenue Division, which until now had been under the Nagpur Revenue Division. We will also soon hand over control of the Isapur Sanctuary to Melghat.” “The fresh change will help speed up the resettlement of villages in which the revenue department has an important role to play. Both the divisional commissioner and the field director, who will be based in Amravati, will work better, “Kakodkar said.
Till now Tipeshwar and Painganga, 180 km and 300 km respectively from Nagpur were under the control of the field director, Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR), Maharashtra. Earlier, there was also a proposal to add these sanctuaries to the Bor Tiger Reserve by placing them under the new field director, but the idea did not work well with senior officials.
The state move comes at a time when Minister of Forestry Sanjay Rathod, who is a three-time MLA from Digras in Yavatmal, wants to expedite the plan to designate the Tipeshwar Sanctuary as a tiger reserve by expanding it.
Melghat field director Reddy said, “Getting Tipeshwar’s tiger reserve status will be his priority. We will also introduce Dr. Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Jan Van’s scheme in the villages around Tipeshwar. I’m going to take care of these sanctuaries on Saturday. “On the tiger reserve plan, Reddy said,” If Navegaon-Nagzira and other sanctuaries attached to it can become a tiger reserve, why not Tipeshwar-Painganga? Melghat Expanding Higher Gugamal NP: 361.28 Melghat sanctuary: 788.75 Wan sanctuary: 211 Ambabarwa: 127.11 Narnala: 12.35 Katepurna: 73.69 Karanja Sohol: 18.32 Dnyanganga: 92.65 Lonar: 3.65 Tipeshwar: 149 Painganga: 425 (The above area in sq km does not include part of the buffer zone)
