But the problems confronting Melghat are as vast as its potential for tiger conservation. In 1994, around 500 sq. km. of the Melghat Wildlife Sanctuary was denotified, as a result of 4,000 malnutrition deaths in tribal villages outside the tiger reserve during the monsoons. The deaths took place in the Dharni and Chikaldhara areas where the natural foods that were a part of the Korku tribal diet, such as fruits, tubers, crabs and fish were not available as the forests had been destroyed or degraded. Because the whole region is known as 'Melghat', politicians and contractors managed to confuse the issue and were able to push through a lucrative Rs. 90 crore road construction project. Ostensibly to counter malnutrition deaths among tribals in the tiger reserve - where no rise in infant mortality was observed - the project has been a financial bonanza for contractors. In the name of 'connecting' the villages in Melghat, for instance, a 60 lakh bridge was built to a 30-hut village called Pili, less than 500 metres from the tarred main road. A 26 km. road has been built to connect a single village called Kund to the 'outside world' even though the people of Kund have asked to be relocated. Clearly the tax-payers money could have been better used for the forest and the Korkus.
The cutting of wood for fires and quarrying for the roads has devastated the local ecology, leading to massive fires, siltation of water courses. The forest has been opened to people in the guise of labourers, and poaching incidents have risen. The raods have led to a massive increase in poaching since their construction. There are fears that the roads will facilitate the timber mafia and land grabbers. None of this benefits the tribal communities for whom the roads are supposedly being built as they do not use motorised transport. Two highways running through Melghat already take a heavy toll of wildlife. Proposals to restrict traffic to daylight hours have not been accepted, though with unified control recently being given to the Field Director, some order may be restored to Melghat.
In addition to these problems, two large-scale, destructive, 'developmental' projects have been unleashed on the region. The Chikaldhara Pumped Storage Project, threatens to drown over 100 hectares of forest frequented by tigers and leopards. The construction process involved in a project of such magnitude will also cause considerable disturbance to this fragile area. Though this project has been denied environmental clearance by the Ministry of Environment and Forests' Expert Appraisal Committee for River Valley Projects, efforts to revive the project cannot be ruled out.
The Upper Tapi Stage II project will drown another 244 hectares of Tiger Reserve land and about 6,000 ha. of forest land totally. The reservoir created by the project as well as the irrigation canals will fragment wildlife habitats and affect tiger movement between Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
The Maharashtra Wildlife Advisory Board has agreed to appoint a committee to look into the renotification of the denotified area of the Melghat Sanctuary, but no further progress has been made on this front.
Supported by Sanctuary magazine and other groups, the Nature Conservation Society Amravati has been fighting for Melghat. Kishor Rithe, the coordinator of NCSA, is setting up a Tiger (Habitat) Defence Unit for Melghat.
To protest the destruction of Melghat Write a letter to the authorities.
To financially or otherwise support the NCSA, write to:
Kishor Rithe,
NCSA, Pratishtha,
Bharat Nagar, Akoli Road,
Near Sai Nagar,
Amravati - 444 605.
Fax: (0721) 670308.
Email: ncsa@bom3.vsnl.net.in
