The Hindu : New Delhi News : Project won’t hinder movement of tigers: official

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 07, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

New Delhi

New Delhi

Project won’t hinder movement of tigers: official

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Rajesh Gopal, director of Project Tiger, rejected the contention that there was any direct correlation between the Srisailam irrigation project and the movement of tigers outside their natural habitat, but said the matter would definitely be looked into.

“Now that the issue has been brought to our notice, we will look into it and if found correct, we will suggest adequate safeguards to ensure that tigers are not disturbed,” he told The Hindu.

Naxalite activity

According to Mr. Gopal, the irrigation project was approved by the National Board for Wildlife much before the area was notified as a tiger reserve. “In any case the tunnelling work is yet to start inside the core critical area that could possibly push the tigers out.” The areas where the tigers have now been sighted also forms part of their natural habitat but there were no sightings earlier because of heavy naxalite activities and police movement. Now that these activities have reduced, tigers are being spotted, he added. Mr. Gopal said that Project Tiger was against any activity within the core critical area of tiger reserves.

Company clarifies

Hyderabad Special Correspondent adds: When contacted, Anil A. Kamat, Senior vice-president of Noida-based Jaiprakash Associates Limited, which was awarded the contract for the Rs. 1,925 crore project said there was no question of seismic vibrations as the work was taking place 200 to 400 metres below the surface.

He said the TBMs were environmental friendly as they adopted boring and not the conventional blasting technique. The tunnel was dug with 67 rotating cutters at the head of the machine to cut the rock.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi