Human interference continues to spoil the Kawal Tiger Reserve
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Hyderabad: Human interference continues to spoil the Kawal Tiger Reserve. Recently, 92 trees worth nearly Rs 1 lakh were chopped by villagers in the core area of the reserve, the Jannaram division. The incident occurred a few days ago between the villages of Islampur and Udhampur, about six km from each other, as the villagers wanted to build a road between the two villages.
This is in spite of the fact that for the first time in many years Kawal’s core area is hosting a tiger which came there around a month ago. Conservationists and forest officials fear that the disturbance by humans and destruction of habitat might drive the tiger away. After the tree felling the forest department suspended two forest range officers for negligence. However, as per sources, this is just a namesake move and that the FROs were made scapegoats as the real culprits behind the chopping of trees were local politicians. Recently, the GO which had proposed to divide the tiger reserve between core and buffer area for effective management was also put on hold due to interference by a minister from Adilabad.
An official said tree felling has been regularly going on in Kawal. The core area has 23 villages which have not been shifted by the government. Residents of these villages often cut down trees. Although the forest department's vigilance keeps denying teak smuggling, those working on the field at Kawal says it is rampant in the tiger reserve.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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