With Kanha Reserve in Madhya Pradesh reaching its limits of tiger carrying capacity, big cats are dispersing to the neighbouring available forest areas in Chhattisgarh. There are indications that they are traversing more than 100 kilometres from Kanha to reach Achanakmar Tiger Reserve in Chattisgarh, using the connecting corridor.
Notwithstanding this, the crucial Kanha-Achanakmar corridor, passing through Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, is drawing little attention and facing multiple challenges compared to the other corridors like Kanha-Pench. These include human settlements, their dependency on forests, developing linear infrastructures and mining.
According to experts, there are ample evidences that this 107 km long corridor is functional and acts as an important dispersal ground for big cats and their prey species between the two important tiger bearing area in central India.
As per official figures, Kanha has a tiger population ranging between 85-90, tigers spread across an area of 950 sq kms. This growing population and subsequent space crunch is thus pushing out the sub adult tigers from the reserve to explore newer areas. The Phen Wild life Sanctuary, (on the northern side of Kanha in Madhya Pradesh) and the adjoining jungles of Bhoram Deo Wildlife sanctuary (to the East of Kanha in Chattisgarh) act as “stepping stones” or viable connecting patches in the forest corridor, between the tiger reserves of the two States
The terrain of the corridor is mostly hilly and undulating with tropical dry deciduous forests that support a wide array of pray species including chital, sambar, nilgai, barking deer, wild boar etc. Aloke Tiwary, DFO Kawardha Forest Division, confirms the presence of at least four tigers in Bhoram Deo, through camera trapping. “But it is still not known, whether they are resident or dispersing”, he says, adding monitoring is going on in this regard.
As per a study conducted by WWF - India, the area is being used by the tigers for dispersing from Kanha. “Apart from our random camera trapping exercises, we have found frequent signs as pug marks, prey kills etc. which support our observations. This corridor is thus significant for sustenance of the Achanakmar tiger population and for meta-population of Kanha-Achanakmar complex,” says Jyotirmay Jena, Wildlife biologist from WWF.
But unfortunately, even as tigers and wildlife realise the importance of the corridor, it is grappling against growing challenges of fragmentation. There are open cast bauxite mines, barely 10kms. away from from Bhoram Deo sanctuary, in Daldali area under Taregaon forest range of Kawardha forest division. located on the central part of the corridor, it poses a serious threat to the passage of wildlife. “Nearly 150 trucks are said to pass through this part of the corridor, between 5 pm till early morning,” says Jena.
The DFO Kawadha further says that there are more than 200 villages in the corridor area. The villagers are heavily dependent on forest resources besides grazing their livestock within the jungles. This causes huge anthropogenic pressures within the corridor jungles, besides affecting the presence of prey species due to depleting forest cover.
To add to the above, there are also proposals for expansion of roads, including the National highway (NH-12) connecting Jabalpur and Raipur, and State highway (SH-9) passing through Kawardha in Chhattisgarh to Shahdol in MP via Pandariya. If it happens, the roads would reach up to the borders of Kanha and Bhoram Deo. Traffic pressures would be detrimental to the wildlife and forests, besides affecting normal movement of animals.
However, despite these disturbances, the best part is that the corridor is still being used for the movement of the wildlife. The experts point out that the situation is still not out of hand and certain timely steps can save the situation.
While it is impossible to relocate so many villages, the best solution would be to involve local communities in incentivised conservation work. Additional livelihood options need to be generated in consultation with the stakeholders, to reduce their dependency on the forest. To add to the above, pasture lands can be developed outside protected areas, to reduce the grazing pressure within the prime forests.
The expansion of roads, should be carefully planned to avoid further fragmentation of the corridor. NH-12 and SH-9 should not be expanded further, as it passes through two critical linkages (particularly Kawardha and Dindori forest divisions) in the corridor. They recommend that any major developmental activities planned along the stretch of the corridor should henceforth be done taking into account the green protocols and adequate mitigation measures.