Forest department reviving ten lakes in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve ahead of monsoon

Mysuru: As the clouds gather over the horizon in the far reaches of the Arabian Sea, awaiting landfall on the Indian west coast, officials of the forest department at the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve are busy preparing the ground – quite literally – to revive as many as 10 lakes that have dried up in the forest ahead of the monsoon. As the scorching summer winds to a close, the authorities at the reserved forest have decided to work on a permanent solution to the problem of water scarcity in the jungle. Meanwhile, the authorities in the forest made considerable headway in the rejuvenation process ahead of the monsoon so as to ensure flow of water to the revived lakes in the coming months.
The reserve forest is home to more than a 100 tigers, scores of elephants, besides many other wild beasts. However, Nagarahole has borne the brunt of a series of forest fires, which have gradually eaten away at the green cover. While forest fires have turned into a recurrent menace for the officials, scarcity of food and water driving animals ever so deeper into human habitats is keeping their hands full. In a bid to curb the number of human-animal conflict cases, the forest department has hit upon the idea of reviving the tanks within the boundaries of the reserve.
The former director of the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve S Manikandan, who was killed by a tusker in March 2018, had taken the lead in setting up solar-powered water pumps at the reserve, with the technical assistance of Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd. These submersible pumps, powered by motors, extracted groundwater, which was then diverted to fill the natural waterbodies. Under Manikandan’s watch, 18 such pumps were installed across the reserve.
However, some of the lakes have dried up, while accumulation of silt has markedly reduced the capacity of others to hold water. The authorities at Nagarahole have promptly undertaken work to desilt the lakes to ensure they can be replenished when the monsoon becomes active in Karnataka.
Nagarahole Tiger Reserve Director KM Narayanaswamy confirmed to TOI that the department had initiated work on rejuvenation of 10 lakes at an estimated cost of Rs 16 lakh. “We have already removed silt in nine lakes of the reserve. Accumulation of silt had severely reduced the storage capacity of these lakes. We have ensured that the entire project is executed in a scientific manner,” said Narayanaswamy.
He said that they started work on reviving the lakes in Nagarahole in March. “Some water has already flown into the lakes following rain in the summer months. These eco-friendly tanks will help increase green cover, besides slaking the thirst of wild animals,” Narayanaswamy said.