NAGPUR: At a time when wildlife and forest conservation lacks political will, both Shiv Sena MP from Buldhana Prataparao Jadhav and MLA Sanjay Gaikwad have pushed for the expansion of Dnyanganga wildlife sanctuary in Buldhana district.
“The 200sqkm sanctuary has scope to be expanded by around 10,000 hectares (100sqkm) by taking over an adjoining territorial forest area of three forest ranges,” says Jadhav.
In a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on January 18, 2021, Jadhav said, “Dnyanganga has good wildlife and tiger TWLS-T1-C1 that dispersed from Tipeshwar wildlife sanctuary has also stabilized in the park. Apart from release of a tigress here, the park should be expanded. Two irrigation projects – Paldhag and Geru Matargaon – on both sides of the sanctuary are an added advantage.
“Post its expansion, the Ajanta and Ellora caves in Aurangabad will not remain far. Besides, if included in the sanctuary, the corridor connectivity will be strengthened. Thousands of tourists visit these caves and the Dnyanganga sanctuary can be an added attraction for them. I had raised this issue with forest minister Sanjay Rathod on Monday.”
Presently, there is rampant grazing around the sanctuary and territorial officials have failed to control it. Once brought into the sanctuary, there will be restrictions on sheep and cattle grazing. “The issue has been part of our discussion and will be resolved,” Gaikwad said.
Earlier, on November 3, 2020, Jadhav had urged Thackeray to ask the forest department to release a tigress as a mate for TWLS-T1-C1 that travelled over 2500km to reach the sanctuary last December.
Jadhav has also demanded the release of over Rs57 crore to rehabilitate 298 families from Devhari village inside the sanctuary. The villagers are volunteering to move out accepting the Rs10 lakh per family package. “People are demanding relocation since last year. The Devhari gram sabha has also passed a resolution to move out,” he said.