The Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh will launch a specialised tree-restoration initiative in the upper catchment of the Pairy River, part of the Mahanadi River’s origin landscape, after identifying more than 2,500 trees damaged by girdling in an encroached forest area.
Environmental conservationist Vijay Nishant, known as the “Tree Doctor” for his work with Project Vruksha Foundation, is scheduled to visit the reserve next week to assess the affected trees and advise the authorities on restoration techniques. The initiative will focus on trees in the Karka area, where forest land has been cleared for cultivation.
USTR deputy director Varun Kumar Jain said the encroachment had damaged trees by removing strips of bark around their trunks. The process, known as girdling, disrupts the movement of nutrients and can eventually kill a tree. The reserve’s field inspections found that the affected trees were predominantly sal, bija and tendu.
“The encroachers in the Karka area have damaged the trees by girdling them to start cultivation. The initiative to restore the girdled trees will help regenerate forest and contribute to the rejuvenation of the Mahanadi River,” Jain told Deccan Chronicle.
The Karka area forms part of the upper catchment of the Pairy River, which originates in the Udanti wildlife sanctuary. The Sondur River, originating from the Sitanadi River, and the Pairy meet at Rajim in Gariaband district in eastern Chhattisgarh to form the Mahanadi, a major river system for Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
According to Jain, the encroached area expanded from 22 hectares in 2016 to 102.47 hectares in 2026. A recent drone survey, read alongside Indian Space Research Organisation satellite imagery from 2010 that showed dense forest, estimated that more than 1.25 lakh trees had been cleared in the affected landscape between 2016 and 2026.
The reserve has also begun steps to remove the encroachment by relocating a population of 40 to 50 people. Officials said some trees had suffered irreversible damage over the years, while others had been freshly girdled. The presence of recently damaged trees has raised concerns among reserve authorities that the practice may be continuing to facilitate the expansion of cultivation.
USTR had previously attempted bridge grafting, a method used to reconnect the flow of nutrients across a damaged section of a trunk, on girdled trees in the Tauranga Range in 2022. Jain said that intervention recorded a success rate of approximately 10 percent, indicating the need for specialised expertise and improved treatment methods.
Nishant’s assessment will determine which trees can potentially be saved and what intervention is appropriate. The proposed techniques include bridge grafting and other forms of surgical tree restoration. The reserve authorities said the exercise could provide a model for regenerating degraded forest areas affected by tree girdling elsewhere in the country.
