BHUBANESWAR: The move of Chhattisgarh government to tackle the decline of big cat population in the state has brought back focus on the long-pending Sunabeda Tiger Reserve proposal in Odisha.
The Chhattisgarh government recently took a cabinet decision to notify Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve in the state where the striped predators have vanished from many protected areas. The tiger population in Chhattisgarh fell from 46 in 2014 to 17 in 2022.
Despite sharing a similar story, Odisha however, is sitting over the proposal of notifying Sunabeda as a tiger reserve (TR) for more than one and a half decade. In August 2008, the Centre had accorded in-principle approval to Sunabeda as a TR. Though 16 years have passed, the state has surprisingly maintained a silence over the matter.
The proposed tiger reserve, having its contiguity to Udanti-Sitanadi TR, is spread over around 1,083.098 sq km area comprising Sunabeda Wildlife Division (600 sq km) and Khariar Forest Division (483.098 sq km). An expert committee formed in 2010 by the Forest and Environment department to undertake the enumeration and survey required for the TR notification, failed to carry it out on time. After the task was completed in 2016, the proposal was then submitted to the state government for final notification. However, it has been pending since then.
Considering the need for notification of the tiger reserve, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had also requested Odisha Government in 2018 to issue the final notification but to no avail. The state now has two TRs - Similipal and Satkosia. But tigers have already been extirpated locally in Satkosia. Odisha’s tiger population dwindled to around 20 in 2022 from 46 in 2006. Odisha government’s own tiger census report, released earlier this year, has put the big cat count in the state at 30.
Honorary wildlife warden (HWLW) of Angul and Satkosia Aditya Chandra Panda said it is high time the state government issued the final notification for Sunabeda. While the focus is on creating tiger source population in Debrigarh along with Similipal and Satkosia, the state wildlife wing should also focus on notifying Sunabeda.
“This will help lay the ground work not just for tigers but also for the return of hard ground Barasingha and wild buffalo in the protected area in future,” Panda said and added that by the time Satkosia, Similipal and Debrigarh become thriving source sites, Sunabeda can be readied for tiger revival.
Forest Minister Ganesh Ram Singkhuntia said the state government will examine the proposal again to find out the reason behind the delay. “We will revisit the pending proposal. View of NTCA will also be sought after a meeting with PCCF Wildlife and other officials. The government will definitely take steps to notify it (Sunabeda) as a tiger reserve, if found feasible,” he added.