The Nagpur Bench of the Mumbai High Court has taken serious note of the permission granted for mining in the main wildlife corridor of the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve. After reports were published in the media about the habitat of approximately 60 tigers being endangered due to this mining, the court on Monday directed the filing of a suo motu public interest litigation. In this case, the court has appointed Adv. Gopal Mishra as Amicus Curiae and ordered the filing of the public interest litigation within two weeks.
Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve is known as one of the most sensitive and important tiger habitats in the country. The proposed iron mining belt directly falls in the main corridor of the tigers, where at least eight resident tigers reside. Additionally, many famous tigers of Tadoba also roam freely in this corridor. Therefore, there is concern that this mining could have a serious impact on the movement of tigers and their natural habitat.
In the meeting of the State Wildlife Board held on January 6, approval was given to this mining project. Notably, despite expert members of the board clearly opposing this project, the board's chairman and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis gave the green light to this mine. This mine is located in an important corridor connecting the Tadoba to Umred-Karhandla forest, and since it is adjacent to the Ghodazari sanctuary, the risk has increased, according to environmental experts.
For the past seven years, this mining proposal was repeatedly presented at the State Wildlife Board meetings. However, each time it was rejected due to environmental reasons. The expert committee also clearly recommended in its report that this mine should not be located in the forest area. Nevertheless, bypassing all these factors, the approval of the mining project has led to intense anger among environmentalists and wildlife researchers.
If the Central Wildlife Board also gives final approval to this project, it is predicted that the existence of more than 60 tigers may be at risk. This area has a large number of trees like Shelzari, Saja, Bija, Hedu, Bhira, and Nirmali, which provide shelter to tigers and are important for the forest ecosystem. However, it has come to light that more than 18,000 trees are going to be cut down due to this mining project. In this context, the suo motu notice taken by the High Court is considered extremely important, and it is expressed that this case may prove decisive for the protection of Tadoba's forest and tigers.