Dehradun: The Kosi-Gaula-Nandhaur-Sharda region, in the Shivalik-Bhabar tract, comprises the western circle of the terai tiger habitat. The region falls between rivers Kosi and Sharda and connects the Corbett Tiger Reserve and the Rajaji Tiger Reserve. This western circle has attracted much attention among tiger conservationists the world over, as 79 tigers have been seen in camera trap images here. If even pug marks were taken into account, in areas where cameras were not installed, then the tiger census of 2014 showed that over 100 tigers roam these areas. Surprisingly, however, no scientific tiger enumeration was carried out in this area prior to 2012. It was only in the census of 2014 that the western circle was covered for the first time.
There are 41 tigers caught on camera in the Ramnagar forest division; six were found in camera images in Terai west, which lies just adjoining the Corbett Tiger Reserve, to the south. Twenty-one tigers were found in the Haldwani forest division and 11 in Terai east forest division.
Ramnagar Forest Division alone has more tigers than 21 source-sites and more than half of the tiger reserves of country. The western circle has more tigers than 10 tiger states (of the 20) including Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Haldwani alone has more tigers than eight tiger states. Terai west has a tiger population that is over 30% of the total number of tigers in Uttarakhand. Despite this, however, the state government does not appear to think of tiger habitat conservation as a priority - locations close to these areas have been allotted for industrial set-ups.
Surender Mehra, conservator forests, western circle, said, "The industrial complex has mushroomed at Kashipur, Sitarganj, Kotabagh in Terai west, which are surrounded by forests on all sides. The small Chaugalia village is also undergoing industrial expansion. Industries have come up under the State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarkhand (SIDCUL) just outside the Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary, which has a good number of tiger occupants."
He expressed concern that villages in the tiger habitat are turning into townships, with agricultural land going through massive land use change. Fields are being turned into mining stocks. Fields provided passage-ways for animals to move from one place to another, but that might soon change, foresters fear.
Principal chief conservator of forests SK Chandola said industrialization would adversely impact tiger habitat, whether it is the SIDCUL complex adjoining Rajaji Tiger Reserve or SIDCUL Sitarganj on the boundary of Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary. He said the serenity of the forests would be gone, with the constant lighting of industrial hubs. Vehicular movement, air pollution, water pollution, crowds - all these would impact the tigers and wildlife, he said.
Mehra was concerned that roads were being broadened, made four-lane from two-lane. Land from tiger habitats was being handed over to government establishments, he said.
