Wildlife Board Nod for Projects in Forests of Telangana

Hyderabad:The National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has approved several small projects in forests in Telangana, but stipulated that the user agencies that sought diversion of forest land, including wildlife-rich areas, will have to deposit with the forest department a total of around Rs 52.45 crore towards compensatory afforestation and wildlife protection mitigation works costs.

The NBWL also rejected a proposal from the Northern Power Distribution Company Limited for a small patch of land where it wanted to set up a 11KV electrical sub-station in the Eturnagaram wildlife sanctuary, declaring that this was not a ‘site-specific’ project. This proposal was cleared by the state forest department with its Chief Wildlife Warden informing the NBWL at its July 9 meeting in Delhi that there were no alternative sites available for the project.

Among the projects that the NBWL approved was the use of 13.3 hectares of the Pocharam wildlife sanctuary in Medak for road-widening of around 7 km, with the work being taken up by the ministry of road transport and highways. The board said `471 lakh should be deposited with the compensatory afforestation fund management and planning authority (CAMPA) account of the forest department.

The NBWL also approved three projects of the Telangana Fibregrid Corporation Ltd., in Pocharam and Eturunagaram wildlife sanctuaries and in the Amrabad tiger reserve requiring the use of around 38 hectare of forest land.

In Nalgonda district, the NBWL approved a proposal for use of 4.9 hectares of land in the core area of the Amrabad tiger reserve for laying a pipeline for the Peddagattu lift irrigation scheme for which the irrigation department will have to deposit Rs 16.58 crore into the forest department’s CAMPA account.