Maharashtra has approved 14 new conservation reserves across seven districts and granted sanctuary status to the Kolamarka conservation reserve in Gadchiroli, creating a dedicated protected area for the habitat of Indian gaurs, according to decisions taken at the 26th meeting of the Maharashtra State Board for Wildlife.
The meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at Sahyadri Guest House in Mumbai and attended by Forest Minister Ganesh Naik and senior forest officials. The board also approved the declaration of the new extended Tansa area adjoining Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary as a wildlife sanctuary.
The 14 conservation reserve proposals cover areas in Pune, Raigad, Nashik, Nandurbar, Thane, Palghar and Chandrapur districts. The approved areas include Velhe and Lonavala in the Pune-Raigad region, Bhorigad in Pune district, Dindori, Surgana and Taharabad in Nashik, Chinchpada in Nandurbar, Alibag and Ghera Manikgad in Raigad, Gumtala in Thane, Jawhar, Asherigad and Dhamni in Palghar, and Ekara in Chandrapur.
The board also approved a proposal to include 588.767 hectares of revenue and private land from six villages—Ogda, Khodde, Tirmal, Pachghar, Phansad and Amle—in the extended Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary. The stated objective is to make the sanctuary free of human habitation. The decision will require the inclusion of these areas in the sanctuary’s administrative and management framework.
In Gadchiroli, the Kolamarka conservation reserve has been granted wildlife sanctuary status because of its importance as a habitat for Indian gaurs. The change in status places the area under a more formal protected-area framework, although the source report does not specify the implementation schedule or any relocation plan connected with the declaration.
The board also approved proposals to classify 100.139 square kilometres in the Koka Wildlife Sanctuary and 255.79 square kilometres in the Jayakwadi Bird Wildlife Sanctuary as endangered wildlife habitats. These decisions add to the state’s protected-area management responsibilities in landscapes that also contain water infrastructure and settlements.
The meeting addressed how essential infrastructure work should be carried out inside sanctuaries, eco-sensitive areas and tiger corridors. Proposals concerning irrigation, healthcare, water supply, bridges, roads, underground optical fibre and power transmission lines were approved. The chief minister directed that regular dam repairs, rehabilitation work and desilting inside sanctuaries should be incorporated into the relevant management plans.
The board was also asked to prepare standard operating procedures consistent with wildlife rules and amend management plans within three months. Instead of seeking separate approval for every such activity, the proposed system would require prior intimation to the concerned wildlife authorities, according to the decisions reported from the meeting.
The meeting discussed declaring the core, buffer and notified eco-sensitive areas of Maharashtra’s six tiger reserves as silence zones. It also considered a proposal to classify human-wildlife conflict as a natural disaster and to prepare a policy for the rehabilitation of villages in tiger-reserve buffer zones where residents are willing to relocate.
Fadnavis directed officials to examine how the Disaster Management Act, existing compensation arrangements and the powers of the Forest Department can be aligned before further action is taken. The board also sought a study of staff adjustment, deputation and vacant posts before protected areas currently managed by territorial forest divisions or the Forest Development Corporation are transferred to the wildlife wing. A proposal on the staffing issue is to be submitted within one month.
