With the summer heat soaring, the State Government has decided to build at least six water tanks in the blackbuck habitat areas under the Aska and Buguda Forest Ranges in Ganjam district to help the majestic animals beat the heat.
The small ponds would be dug under the compensatory afforestation programme with each tank costing around Rs 2.50 lakh, official sources said. The Aska and Buguda areas are known as among the biggest habitats of the black bucks in the country. According to the July 2011 census, there were 2,181 black bucks in the Aska, Buguda, Polasara, Khallikote and Brahmapur Forest Ranges in the district as compared to 1,672 in 2008.
The endangered animals, however, face much difficulty in quenching their thirst when several existing ponds in the area dry up due to the\\ summer heat. The works for the three water bodies in the thick blackbuck-populated areas in Aska have already been undertaken, said Forest Department sources. In Buguda, the locations for the new ponds have been identified and the works would be started soon. The department has renovated the existing ponds while some ponds have been filed with water from the nearby Baghua reservoir.
Chief Wildlife Warden SS Srivastav has instructed the Divisional Forest Officers to fill the dried tanks in the wildlife habitats with tankers so that the wild animals would not face water shortage.
Forest officials said they have also undertaken a programme to cultivate grass for the blackbucks and to minimise crop damage by them. About nine acres of land of two persons in the Vetanai area has been identified for cultivation of grass. The land owners have agreed to the proposal.