BHUBANESWAR: In its bid to increase the protected area network in the State, the Forest and Environment department has proposed Barbara (Khurda), Northern Reserve Forest (Athamallik) and Gandhamardan (Bargarh) as wildlife sanctuaries. The department is already at the advanced stages of identifying the boundaries and preparing maps for these three forest areas.
It is also working on declaration of Mahendragiri as a biosphere reserve. These are significant measures considering that the State has not added new protected areas in more than a decade. At the State-level Wildlife Week celebration by the Wildlife Wing, Forest and Environment Minister Bijayshree Routray made it clear that the Government is pushing protection and conservation of wildlife aggressively.
The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy who is now in additional charge of the Forest and Environment department. Head of Forest Force Debabrata Swain was also present. The Forest Minister informed that the department managed to relocate 11 villages comprising 596 families from the core of Similipal, Satkosia and Debrigarh in the last two years.
“The department has successfully reintroduced two tigers in Satkosia and will continue its endeavour of big cat supplementation,” he said and added that with increased protection, footprint of tigers have been found in Debrigarh and other parts of the State. Chief Wildlife Warden Dr Sandeep Tripathi said increasing protected area network apart, the Wildlife Wing is building conservation capacity. A fully-customised Airawat vehicle fitted with sirens, fog-lights and crane is being procured from West Bengal for elephant rescue and conflict management.
Three elephants will also be brought from Karnataka. Similarly, a specially- designed vehicle with hydraulic platform that has a cage and ventilator support would be brought from Kanha while a herbivore transportation system is also being procured. “We want each circle to have one each of these vehicles. It would add to our capacity significantly,” he added. The department would spend close to `75 lakh in the first phase in this connection. On the occasion, noted herpetologist Dr SK Dutta was conferred the prestigious Biju Patnaik Award for Wildlife Protection and Conservation.