HUBBALLI: Conservationists working in Dandeli have been fighting with several establishments to ensure the roads that pass through the tiger reserve are not widened.
Their efforts yielded results when the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) nixed the proposed widening of National Highway 4A which saved close to 21,000 trees from being axed. But on the other end of the Tiger Reserve, construction work on a road has begun without obtaining any requisite permissions. The Tourism Department has proposed a new road leading to the origin of River Kali without consulting the Forest Department and the NTCA. A 3.5 km tar road has been proposed between Diggi and Dudhmala at a cost of `2.5 crore. The idea is to get the tourists to the birth place of Kali at Kushavali.
The Forest Department is treading cautiously as Tourism Minister R V Deshpande is keen on opening tourism inside the Tiger Reserve. An official termed the issue ‘delicate’ and the Department was doing all to convince the tourism officials not to take up the project.
Harmful for Tigers
Experts point out that laying a new road will not only harm the catchment areas of the river, but also cause disturbance in the tiger area. The new road will increase traffic inside the tiger country. No permissions have been taken and work on the road has begun. Last week forest officials asked the Tourism Department to halt the work. The earth movers have taken out a decent amount of mud and foundation for a bridge has been dug up by the workers.
“The Tourism Department must not take up plans inside tiger areas without approval. Any kind of construction is a grave violation of wildlife Acts. If someone goes to court with photographs of bridge construction, the officials who allowed this, could land in trouble. It is said that an Assistant Conservator level officer had given the green signal for road construction,” said a conservationist.
