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Will proposed Tiger Project ensure safety for big cat?
The State government has commenced the Tiger Corridor Project work intended to expand the area of their stay in the Nallamala forest. The project is one of the key schemes being taken up by the Central government. The Centre had prepared the project and sent it to the unified State government in 2014, with the aim of increasing the tiger population.
Atmakur (Kurnool): The State government has commenced the Tiger Corridor Project work intended to expand the area of their stay in the Nallamala forest. The project is one of the key schemes being taken up by the Central government. The Centre had prepared the project and sent it to the unified State government in 2014, with the aim of increasing the tiger population.
The State Forest department during the last two years conducted an exercise to determine the area of the Tiger Corridor Project from Srisailam to Seshachala forest. The State has allotted five lakh acres of forest land in Kurnool, Kadapa and Chittoor districts for the project.
As many as 87,279 hectares in the Proddatur division, 70,903 hectares in Kadapa and 1.2 lakh hectares in Rajampet were identified.
However, beneficial the project may be for tigers, it is bound to be a boon for red sanders smugglers. There is a danger of tiger becoming a bonus for these smugglers, fear animal-lovers.
Already, the brigands have killed some Forest department officials in Seshachala forest after cutting down red sanders trees worth crores. Red sanders trees worth Rs 70,000 crore have been allegedly cut by the smugglers. This gives rise to the big question—whether these smugglers will allow tiger to survive in the forest from Srisailam to Tirupati spread over 400 km.
Keeping this threat in view fears are being expressed whether tiger will be safe in the proposed project. While a kg of red sanders fetches a market rate of Rs 8,000 and one kg of tiger skin gets over Rs 10 lakh. Ensuring safety of tigers in the Nagarjunsagar Tiger Reserve has become difficult, as they face the threat of hunters.
If the Tiger Corridor is expanded with the aim of saving 90 tigers, paving the way for movement of tigers to Seshachala forest there is also the threat of red sanders smugglers and hunters chasing them. Meanwhile, the GBM sanctuary in Kurnool district has been expanded. Traces of tigers from the sanctuary moving to the Lankamalleswaram forest area of Kadapa district have been found, according to DFO Diwan Mohiuddin. Infrared cameras have captured the tiger movements.
