Ministry of Environment and Forests09-July, 2012 17:36 IST
| Ministry of Environment and Forests Reviews Flood Situation in Kaziranga Tiger Reserve | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Ministry of
Environment and Forests reviewed flood situation in Kaziranga Tiger Reserve of
Assam. The Kaziranga Tiger Reserve has
an area of 1033 sq.km., which includes the Kaziranga National Park (859
sq.km.), Bura Chapori Wildlife Sanctuary (44 sq.km.) and Laokhowa Wildlife
Sanctuary (70 sq.km.). The reserve is
located in Nagaon, Golaghat and Sonitpur District of Assam and is bounded by
the Brahmaputra, and to the South of the Karbi Anglong Wildlife Sanctuary. The National Highway 37 separates the reserve
from the said Sanctuary.
Being
located in the Brahmaputra Flood Plains, the reserve is prone to annual
floods. However, the normal flood
inundation is inherent and important aspect of the Kaziranga ecosystem to
maintain the large number of water bodies (around 175) and the floral/faunal
biodiversity of the area.
Dr.
M. Firoz Ahmad, Member, NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) was asked
to make a spot appraisal of Kaziranga in the wake of recent floods. The wild animal deaths based on the said report
are as below:
As
per the report, most of the Rhino deaths were from the older age group, besides
calves. However, three of them have been
poached. The hog deer mortality, in
particular has been reported very high (512).
The report has highlighted the need for relieving the corridor areas
from human pressure and avoiding change in land use pattern.
The
park management has deployed patrolling staff for the protection of wild
animals along the highways by creating barriers alongwith 24x7 surveillance. The staff of Karbi Anglong Sanctuary was also
co-opted to strengthen protection in the area.
Besides to safeguard wild animals from drowning in floods, artificial
mounds / bunds have also been created at various places. Wild animals are also rescued through
boats. Under the ongoing Centrally
Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger, funding support is provided to the State for
such protection initiatives. During the
last financial year, an amount of Rs. 4.27 crores of central assistance was
released to Kaziranga under Project Tiger, this inter alia, includes creation
of a large number of patrolling camps within the reserve, besides other
protection measures. An alternate
alignment has been agreed upon for diverting / widening the NH-37. However, since the said highway is in use, the
NHAI would be approached for providing flyovers at vantage points for the
traffic. This would prevent road hits, while providing safe passage for wild
animals from beneath.
Earlier,
the State has been requested to declare the adjoining Karbi Anglong Wildlife
Sanctuary as a Tiger Reserve to enable adequate protection with Project Tiger
assistance. This would be reiterated for
expediting the same. The Member
Secretary, NTCA would be visiting the reserve alongwith his team for spot
appraisal / review, to strengthen the efforts by assisting the State. During normal floods, which are recurring feature,
there is less mortality of wild animals.
However, flash floods do occur due to breaches in the upper areas of
Brahmaputra, which result in increased deaths of wild animals. During 1998, a similar flood situation
occurred in Kaziranga resulting a large number of wild animal deaths in the
area.
MC/sk
(Release ID :85250) |
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