Srivilliputhur – Megamalai Tiger Reserve (Tamil Nadu 5th Tiger Reserve)
- Recently Srivilliputtur-Meghmalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu has been approved by the Center.
- It will be the 5thTiger Reserve of Tamil Nadu. Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary and Meghamalai Wildlife Sanctuaries will also be included in this tiger reserve.
- In this way, it will be the 51sttiger reserve in India.
Key point:
- Many environmental activists have been demanding a tiger reserve to connect these two sanctuaries for almost a decade.
- Activists are demanding to link this tiger reserve with the Tirunelveli Wildlife Sanctuary and then the Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve to make it a contiguous corridor.
- The Forest Department proposal declares Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary, Tirunelveli Wildlife Sanctuary, and Meghamalai Wildlife Sanctuary as the fifth tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu with 1.48 lakh hectares of land.
- Now the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has approved this new tiger reserve. The new tiger reserve will not only help in wildlife conservation, but will also rejuvenate the Vaigai River in these forests.
- With the creation of the KalakkadMundanthurai and Periyar Tiger Reserve, the water needs of many southern districts have been met.With the new Megamalai-Srivilliputhur Tiger Reserve, forests will be better protected.
- According to a report by the Salim Ali Center for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), direct and indirect evidence of tigers was mostly confined to the Western Plateau.This report recommends the expansion of the Meghamalai Wildlife Sanctuary.
Major animals found in Srivilliputhur – Meghamalai tiger reserve:
In Meghamalai, there are hoofed mammals, spotted deer, Indian gaur, wild boar, etc.
Grizzled squirrel, flying squirrel, leopard, nilgiritahr, sambar, elephant, lion tailed macaque etc. are found in Srivilliputhur.
National Tiger Conservation Authority:
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has been constituted under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
The purpose of the formation of this body is to provide protection to the tigers according to the powers and functions conferred under the Act.
It is a statutory body constituted under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India.
For this, the body issues advice and guidance from time to time. These advisories and guidance are based on the condition of tigers, the status of implementation of conservation, and the recommendations of specially constituted committees.
Source – The Hindu
