Absence of central command poses threat to Kawal reserve
Absence of a centralised command that controls all aspects of the Kawal Tiger Reserve in Telangana, that extends over 2,015 sq km, has not only led to a plethora of proposals for roads through the reserve, but also poses a great challenge in the days to come when an expected surge in tigers moving south from the tiger reserves in Maharashtra make their way to Telangana.
The Kawal Tiger Reserve was formed primarily to act as a sink for increasing tigers in Maharashtra, which at present, is reported to have more than 100 cubs in its reserves. As these cubs grow up, they will begin seeking their own territories. All the tigers currently in northern Telangana districts are the ones that came from Maharashtra, with some of them settling down in Telangana and giving birth to cubs of their own.
The Kawal Tiger Reserve is one of the largest tiger reserves in India. It is also one with the fewest number of tigers, and the only one without a unified command and control over the vast forest area that comprises the reserve and is spread over Adilabad, Nirmal, Mancherial, and Komaram Bheem-Asifabad districts.
Though KTR does have a Field Director, at least on paper, this official’s direct jurisdiction covers just about half of the reserve that falls in Adilabad and Mancherial districts. The rest of the reserve is under the command and control of district level forest officials in the other two districts. Incidentally, forests in Asifabad district where influx of tigers from Mahrashtra takes place, is
under the control of Adilabad territorial circle, which is not controlled by KTR’s Field Director. While senior officials of the Telangana state forest department maintain that this does not pose any problem in terms of management of the reserve, sources say that this fragmented approach was forced upon the reserve as back as in 2015 with some political leaders stepping in to prevent formation of a unified command for the reserve. Despite the forest department maintaining that this dividing of control over tiger reserve into different geographical units has had no impact on the reserve’s management, sources say that this
has led to uncontrolled ‘development’ works, and proposals to lay roads through the reserve that will fragment the habitat.
“Every road is a hurdle for animals to cross. And there are proposals for 24 road stretches that are coming up for discussion at a mandatory meeting of the State Wildlife Board seeking approvals for these projects. Many of these fall in the tiger reserve,” a source said.” Though the proposals include underpasses for wildlife to cross the roads, there is no evidence of any thorough study to actually identify the points where such underpasses need to be placed, according to sources.