While there is a case for reducing the size of the park, Madhya Pradesh must notify an equivalent land area under Protected Area status to compensate for the reduction here.
Karera is still home to blackbuck and other ungulates and the Dihaila jheel in the sanctuary is visited by a variety of migratory birds. A lack of timely management action has led to conflicts between farmers and wildlife. If denotified irrationally, the threatened flora and fauna of the area could be lost forever.
Dr. Asad Rahmani, Director, BNHS, had given a report to the state government way back in 1987 to develop the jheel into a world-class waterfowl habitat but little has been done. The Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary in Maharashtra is also under threat, where the state government has sought to reduce the area of the sanctuary by 95 per cent. Dr. Rahmani suggests that while parts of this sanctuary that include Solapur town and several villages can be denotified, it is vital that grassland patches be identified and protected from grazing and tree planting.
December 2008
