SILVICULTURE IN PALAMU TIGER RESERVE: SARYU ROY URGES CM TO INTERVENE
LATEHAR: Environment crusader and veteran leader Saryu Roy has sought chief minister (CM) Hemant Soren’s intervention in stopping the alleged ongoing silviculture activities in critical tiger habitat (core area) of Palamu Tiger Reserve.
Silviculture is the practice of controlling growth, composition and quality of forests, especially for timber production.
Tagging Soren, Roy on Saturday took to Twitter to urge the CM to issue orders for immediately stopping the said practice. “The silviculture (activities) is carried out in the core area of the Palamu Tiger Reserve. This is not part of the Tiger Conservation Plan…Such activities being carried out in buffer zone is understandable. But, inside the core area, this will have an adverse impact on wildlife habitat,” he said in the tweet.
Talking to HT over phone, Roy said, “There should be no disturbance in the core area of any tiger reserve. In Palamu Tiger Reserve, they (management) are clearing bushes and digging trenches in the core area. This practice should immediately stop.”
When contacted, field director of Palamu Tiger Reserve YK Das said, “This (silviculture) should not have been done, but I will have to check. We are working as per Tiger Conservation Plan,” while asking to contact deputy director for more details.
PTR deputy director (north) Kumar Ashish said, “NTCA mandates to keep core area free of any disturbance, so that tigers can breed. But in this case, trench fencing was urgently required to save the forest land from being usurped by locals, who insisted on ploughing the area that had a meagre 0.1% forest density.”
Noted wildlife expert Dr DS Srivastava said, “Any operation except developing water resources, grass land and making fire line, is banned in the core area. Use of earthmovers is also strictly prohibited in the reserve forest area. Even if such activities were urgently required, approval of higher authorities should have been taken.”
SILVICULTURE IS THE PRACTICE OF CONTROLLING GROWTH, COMPOSITION AND QUALITY OF FORESTS