BENGALURU: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has given its approval to the proposal to declare the Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary (MM Hills) as a tiger reserve, said Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
However, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is yet to clear the file tabled by the Karnataka Forest Department. The minister announced this while replying to a question by MP Prajwal Revanna in the Lok Sabha on July 25.
In the reply, Choubey said, “Approval of the NTCA has been accorded to the proposal of the Karnataka state government to declare Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve. Of the 524 tigers reported in the state, eight were sighted in the region.”
He also said the core area of MM Hills is spread across 670.99 sqkm and the buffer zone is 235.19 sqkm. The total area of the proposed tiger reserve is 906.18 sqkm.Forest officials said while the NTCA and Environment Ministry had approved it, the state government is dragging its feet. “Declaring a tiger reserve is the decision of the Government of India, but the state government is not keen. The CM has not yet cleared it,” said a senior forest official.