New corridor from Nallamala to Seshachalam forests on the anvil
Minister for Forests and Environment Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy and others releasing the Nagarjuna Sagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve book at SV Zoo Park in Tirupati on Saturday. PCCF Madhusudan Reddy, MPP Mohith Reddy and others are seen.
Tirupati: Efforts were on to develop a special corridor connecting Nallamala forest with Seshachalam forest to facilitate the movement of tigers into the area. It is expected that this will facilitate the tigers’ movement into the Seshachalam forest area again, almost a century later.
Officials noticed that the tigers were already coming to Seshachalam forest area and going back to Nallamala on several occasions.
The idea was to develop a special corridor so that an assurance can be given to the existence of tigers in Seshachalam.
Addressing a programme organised at SV Zoological Park on Saturday on the occasion of the World Tiger Day, Minister for Environment and Forests Peddireddi Ramchandra Reddy said that there were only 45 tigers in 2010 in the State while the number has gone up to over 80 now. Though there were no tigers in Seshachalam forest, records indicate that Britishers hunted them near Mamandur guest house.
By establishing a corridor connecting both Nallamala and Seshachalam, tigers may come here which will give security to the forest wealth. The Minister also said that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has proposed to increase the Nagarjuna Sagar Srisailam tiger zone which is 8 lakh acres now by another five lakh acres. Once this is done, it will stand in a prominent position.
Peddireddi recalled that 12 years ago when he was the forest minister, a small lab was there for tiger census based on fingerprints but now there are still, video and drone cameras for the accurate census.
On this occasion, he released the Nagarjuna Sagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve (NSTR) book and posters. Certificates were distributed to students who excelled in elocution competition and officials who showed exemplary performance in forest conservation.
The Minister also inaugurated Bajaj battery scooters meant for the visitors in the SV Zoo park. Chandragiri MPP Chevireddy Mohith Reddy, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Madhusudan Reddy, Additional PCCF Shantipriya Reddy, CCF Nageswara Rao, zoo park curator C Selvam, DFO Sathish Reddy and others took part.