NAGPUR: Three years after Adani Power Ltd (APL) proposal for coal mining was rejected in Lohara west and Lohara extension near Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Chandrapur, the power major is back in action. It is seeking environment clearance to its mining plan with slightly changed boundaries. It would still entail loss of over 1400 hectares of forests which is equivalent to 1300 football fields. Papers in possession of TOI show that on April 7, 2012, APL through Santosh Kumar Singh, general manager (corporate environment group), submitted a revised proposal to the state nodal officer proposing to reduce the area of Lohara coal blocks by removing compartment numbers 389 (379 hectares) and 390 (221 hectares) in Mamla under the FDCM. Both are in buffer zone of TATR. Earlier, Adani was allocated Lohara west and Lohara extension coal blocks in Wardha valley coalfield in November 2007 to meet fuel requirement of Tiroda power project in Gondia district about 160 kms from the site. In November 2009, a high-level panel of ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) backed by then in charge minister Jairam Ramesh had rejected the proposal saying the mining project was within the buffer zone of TATR and the area was part of the tiger corridor. A five-member committee has been set up to examine Adani's revised proposal. The panel is headed by CCF (territoral), Chandrapur, while CCF of TATR, general manager of FDCM (North Chandrapur), deputy conservators of Chandrapur and Brahmapuri are members. The committee has been asked to submit a report whether the revised proposal will affect wildlife, its corridors and TATR. Ramesh also suggested that MoEF and ministry of coal (MoC) must work in tandem to identify 'Go' and 'No-Go' zones. The proponents were asked to meet the deficit in coal requirement by importing coal or from other coal blocks. However, after change of guard in the MoEF, Adani again wants to enter area known for rich wildlife presence. Recently, coal minister Shriprakash Jaiswal had also said that environment clearances had become easier after Ramesh's exit. In an MoC meeting on January 11 & 12, 2012, 195 coal block allottees under 'Go' and 'No Go' zones were advised to pursue forest clearances afresh. Accordingly, APL has begun fresh bid for Lohara blocks. Work on company's 3300MW power project in Tiroda is in full swing. It is being implemented in two phases. The Phase I (1320MW) is planned to be commissioned in 2012 while Phase II (1980mw) is slated to be completed in 2012-2017. "The company has sent an urgent request to the MoC to convince the MoEF to grant environment and forest clearance with redefined boundary of Lohara west and Lohara extension," senior forest officials told TOI. The original proposal needed diversion of 1,750 hectares land of which 1,600 hectares was forest land. In revised plan, 1,550 hectare land is needed of which 1,402 hectares is forest land. However, deleting two compartments will not reduce threat to TATR and dispersing tigers. Vishwas Karanjgaokar, public relations officer (PRO) for corporate affairs, Adani Enterprises Ltd, said the company will submit an entirely new proposal by conducting a fresh survey of flora and fauna in the affected area. However, Bandu Dhotre, chief of Eco-Pro, Chandrapur, who had launched a 14-day hunger strike in 2009 against proposed coal mines in Lohara warned of a renewed struggle. "The Adani mines in Lohara will lead to loss of over 13 lakh trees, apart from losing tiger corridor towards south-east. What is need to re-allot these coal blocks which have already been rejected earlier by the MoEF to firms like ACC and Nippon in 1998 and again to Adani in 2009," Dhotre asked.

Tiger activist Bandu Dhotre ended his 10-day hunger strike on Wednesday after the state government “accepted” to “immediately” implement the measures he demanded. Dhotre, however, expressed discontent over Forest Minister Patangrao Kadam not sending him the minutes of the meeting held in Mumbai on Tuesday. “It would have been better had the minutes been sent. They said they would give them yesterday, but they didn’t. Principal Secretary Pravin Pardeshi said the papers were on the Minister’s table and that he was busy with Assembly session, because of which it was getting delayed,” Dhotre told The Indian Express. Dhotre’s supporters had organised a victory rally on Wednesday evening. However, the activists’ celebratory mood was dampened because they had not received the minutes of the meeting. Said activist Swanand Soni: “We decided to end the stir by investing faith in the government. Ideally, we should have been give the minutes.” Soni and senior journalist-turned-activist Shyam Pandharipande had met Kadam in Mumbai on the Minister’s invitation after the activists decided to go ahead with their stir when earlier round of talks with Pardeshi “failed”. Then too, the displeasure was about not being given the minutes of a time-bound follow-up of the demands. Asked if he was satisfied, Dhotre said, “I am satisfied. Particularly about the decision to implement wildlife management plan in the areas controlled by Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) that cares little for wildlife. The plan has to be submitted within a week.” Among those who attended the rally on Wednesday were senior activists Shrinivas Khandewale and Umesh Choube, senior BJP leader Banwarilal Purohit, Collector Saurabh Rao and Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) S W H Naqvi.

NAGPUR: Green activist Bandu Dhotre ended his fast on Wednesday evening in what came to be described as the 'victory festival' by the leaders present on the occasion. The atmosphere at the site was indeed festive with environmentalists exchanging smiles and shouts of victory reverberating in the air. The soothing sound of a flute rendering the music of 'Sare jahan se accha' and the 'Jungle ka raja' song in the end proved to be the perfect mood setters for the evening. Fittingly, Dhotre took a sip of juice from a glass offered by two volunteers dressed as tigers to end his fast. District collector Saurabh Rao, eminent economist Shrinivas Khandewale, social activist Umesh Choubey, former MP Banwarilal Purohit and PCCF (wildlife) SWH Naqvi were present during the small ceremony held to mark the end of the fast. While addressing the gathering, Dhotre said that this was not an end, but the beginning of a new journey towards conservation. "I am thankful for the kind of support I received and which has led this agitation to its success," said Dhotre. In breaking his fast, Dhotre was joined by Jitendra Walke who had been fasting in Chandrapur and who had come down to Nagpur earlier on Wednesday. "Apart from the fact that the government has agreed to all our demands, what stands out as an achievement in the wake of this agitation is that all the ministers from Vidarbha stood together and put forth these demands to the cabinet," said Swanand Soni of Srushti Paryavaran Sanstha. Purohit hailed Dhotre for daring to put his life at stake for tiger conservation while Khandewale called this the beginning of a new age. "This victory marks the start of the formation of an eco-friendly society. This is a joint victory of the NGOs and the government and conservation is going to be benefited by it," Khandewale said.

NAGPUR: The indefinite fast launched by wildlife activist Bandu Dhotre to save tigers entered the second day and is gaining wide support from NGOs and political leaders. On Tuesday, Vidarbha Economic Development (VED) Council, Friends of Tiger Country Central India (FTCCI), Greenpeace and India Against Corruption (IAC) announced their support to the issues raised by Dhotre. Plans are now afoot to bring chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to the pandal site when he will be in the city to review various projects. The IAC volunteers took out a rally from Law College Square to declare support to Dhotre's fast. "It is indeed a matter of shame that Dhotre has to resort to a fast to draw attention and get some action from the state government to save tigers," said Devendra Parekh, president, VED. Incidents of tiger poaching in the buffer zone of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) led seemingly shocked forest minister Patangrao Kadam to issue 'shoot-at-sight' orders but such reactions and emotional outbursts yield no comprehensive results as the follow up is extremely poor, he added. "The need of the hour is a comprehensive policy initiatives that will ensure protection of tigers vis-a-vis their habitat for all times to come," said Parekh. On Tuesday, as Dhotre's fast entered the second day, several local leaders including Shiv Sena MLA from Ramtek Ashish Jaiswal and Nationalist Youth Congress leader Salil Deshmukh visited Dhotre to express solidarity. Deshmukh said his NGO Koshish fully supports Dhotre. Several forest officials from Chandrapur including TATR field director Virendra Tiwari and deputy conservators (DyCFs) M M Kulkarni and P Kalyan Kumar also visited the pandal opposite PWD Sankul in Civil Lines, where Dhotre is fasting. According to sources, forest officials are discussing the 16 demands raised by Dhotre. Of these, several demands like rescue centre at Chandrapur, secret funds, appointing van patils, reorganizing forest beats, restricting resorts near tiger reserves etc have already been accepted but no action has been taken on them. VED and FTsaid the government was aware of all the studied observations on the tiger situation at ground level and needed to take drastic changes at the policy level. While TATR is one of the best tiger reserves in India, it might lose the coveted status if the tiger protection perspective and action remained flawed. It is not appreciated that tigers in Chandrapur face grave danger because most of the core area outside TATR is under the control of Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) for whom tiger protection is not the priority. "The remedy therefore is to treat the area adjoining TATR at par with the tiger reserve," said Parekh. VED appealed to the forest minister Kadam and forest secretary Praveen Pardeshi to convene a meeting on Dhotre's demands and give a written commitment and time-bound action plan.

NAGPUR: Wildlife activist Bandu Dhotre's indefinite fast demanding better protection for tigers in the wild is likely to continue as talks between a four-member team from Nagpur and principal secretary (forests) Praveen Pardeshi failed to make headway on Friday. Pardeshi had called volunteers of Eco-Pro to Mumbai on Thursday to discuss Dhotre's demands. The team consisting of senior journalist Shyam Pandharipande, Bombay Natural History Society's ( BNHS) Sanjay Karkare, Srushti Paryavaran Mandal's Swanand Soni and Eco-Pro's Dhirendra Mulkalwar held talks with Pardeshi but no promise on them was forthcoming from government. After the talks, team was handed over a letter signed by joint secretary Vivek Khandekar stating the demands raised by Eco-Pro were positive and the government will certainly take note of them. "With your cooperation, we would effectively protect wildlife," the letter stated. On the main demand of merging area under FDCM in Chandrapur with territorial divisions and form a wildlife circle, Pardeshi said this was not right. He offered that FDCM operations could be restricted in buffer areas. Already there was opposition to tigers in buffer. Merging vast areas for wildlife would invite more local resentment and would actually work against protection, he said. Pardeshi agreed to declaring Chandrapur tiger district. He said setting up a rescue centre in Chandrapur using CAMPA funds could be considered. The proposal of 'van patils' has been forwarded to finance department. On intelligence gathering, Pardeshi said steps were being taken. He said granting legal status to wildlife corridors was impossible but they could considered as eco-sensitive zones to save them from detrimental projects. On shifting of resorts outside the buffer, Pardeshi said buffer area was dominated by private land where government doesn't have control but resorts won't be allowed in sensitive areas. Instead, homesteads will be promoted in a big way. "Pardeshi discussed all demands but nothing has been given in writing. The letter is also not addressed to Dhotre. Under such circumstances it will be difficult to call off the fast," said Pandharipande who led the team. Meanwhile, Dhotre's fast entered sixth day and his sugar level has gone down. Support for him remains strong. On Friday, guardian minister Shivajirao Moghe, BJP MLAs from Nana Shyamkule and Atul Deshkar visited Dhotre. Deshkar told TOI the forest department was not prepared to handle wildlife exigencies. The demands for reorganization, better protection, corridor conservation weregenuine. "I'll meet forest secretary on Monday to press for the demands raised by Dhotre," he added.

NAGPUR: On the seventh day of his indefinite fast, wildlife activist Bandu Dhotre was shifted to ICU at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on Sunday night. Dhotre had launched his fast to get 16 demands to save tigers fulfilled, but talks with the state government have not made any headway. However, in a late night development on Sunday, sources said Dhotre will be invited to Mumbai on Tuesday to make a presentation about his proposals to the state cabinet. This came about after minister Anil Deshmukh pressed his case before his cabinet colleagues after meeting Dhotre last week. During the period, many NGOs and dignitaries, including Nagpur MP Vilas Muttemwar, state ministers Anil Deshmukh, Shivajirao Moghe and Rajendra Mulak, MLAs Devendra Fadnavis, Ashish Jaiswal, Nana Shyamkule and Atul Deshkar, and ex-MP Banwarilal Purohit called on Dhotre and promised to pursue the demands. Swanand Soni of Srushti Paryavaran Mandal said Dhotre's health started deteriorating on Sunday morning. He had lost 7kg and his blood sugar and ketone levels were also above the danger mark. On Monday, at 6pm, a grand meeting has been organized at the venue. The meeting will be addressed by prominent social workers, lawyers and local leaders.

2 july : Chandrapur (Maharashtra): Alarmed at the rise in tiger poaching, wildlife lover Bandu Dhotre will start a fast unto death in Nagpur from Monday to seek protection for the big cat in Maharashtra. The 32-year-old founder president of Eco-Pro, an ecology protection NGO here, says that measures taken by the government to protect tigers are confined to only reserve forest areas, while the buffer and territorial forests in the state continue to be the hotbeds of poaching activities. “The recent spurt in tiger poaching cases is alarming. Over 100 volunteers of Eco-Pro work closely with the forest department and we feel that only the tigers in the forest reserve of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) are getting protection from poachers,” Dhotre told IANS. Although Dhotre's fast is perhaps the first of its kind to protect tigers, it is not the first time that he is using 'Gandhigiri' to save environment. Reuters “There are many more tigers in the unprotected buffer and territorial forests and that is where the poachers get a free hand to kill them,” he added. The core area of TATR is spread over 624 sq km, while the buffer and the territorial forests have an area of 1,100 sq km. Dhotre, who begins his fast at the Van Bhavan office, the state’s forest headquarters in Nagpur, says Maharshtra was not doing enough to conserve tiger population and that his fast aims at making the government realise of its failure in saving the animal from extinction. Agrees Dhirendra Mulkalwar, a music composer and producer associated with Eco-Pro. “Despite announcing several protective measures in TATR, the government is treating the symptoms instead of the cause. The remedy is to treat the area around the reserve at par with the core area,” Mulkalwar said. Mulkalwar said that according to the 2006 tiger census there were 46 tigers in TATR. “The buffer area, however, has over 50 tigers and that is where the poaching activities are taking place,” he added. “Tadoba tigers get VIP treatment while those outside live ‘below poverty line,’” he lamented. Although Dhotre’s fast is perhaps the first of its kind to protect tigers, it is not the first time that he is using ‘Gandhigiri’ to save environment. Three years ago, the animal lover had undertaken a similar fast unto death against allotment of coal blocks to power major Adani in Lohara in the buffer area of TATR. Dhotre has 16-point charter of demands, which include merging of forests in Chandrpaur district along with its employees into Chandrapur, Central Chanda and Bramhapuri forest divisions for more effective conservation efforts. “The forest areas under the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra should be merged with forests in Chandrapur and around, including the Tadoba large wildlife area,” Dhotre said. “Another of our demand is installation of the electronic eye systems in TATR similar to that in the Jim Corbet Tiger Reserve,” he added. Eco-Pro activists will hold parallel token and relay hunger strikes in Chandrapur, Gondia, Bhandara, Nashik, Jalgaon and Solapur to support the cause. “We need to ensure that tigers live in a safe environment. Despite several letters and memorandums to the forest minister and other officials in the forest department, poachers continue to kill tigers,” Dhotre said. “It’s time that citizens and animal lovers should get to together to raise their voice against these illegal activities,” Dhotre said.2

Professor GD Aggarwal and Anna Hazare both do it - the former for saving the Ganges from pollution and the latter for cleaning up the Government high offices from corruption. But for the first time, Gandhigiri is being resorted to create awareness against poaching of tigers. Wildlife activist Bandu Dhotre, founder of Indian wildlife group from Maharashtra, embarked on an indefinite fast on Monday outside Van Bhavan in Nagpur to protect the tigers of the country. He is being supported by other wildlife NGOs and his brigade of wildlife volunteers, some of whom he claims were former poachers themselves. “The recent spurt in tiger poaching cases is alarming,” said Dhotre. According to him, the so-called measures announced by the Government to save tigers are just cosmetic. “The Government is beating around the bush and is treating the symptoms instead of the cause-as the real trouble lies outside”. According to him, tigers can be protected effectively if the buffer/ territorial forests around the tiger reserves are treated at par with the latter, in terms of monitoring and protection mechanism. He pointed out that at a time when the tiger population is increasing and habitat shrinking, its protection can not be simply limited to the reserve area. As per the latest census report there are many more big cats in the unprotected buffer and territorial forests and that is where the poachers get a free hand to kill them,” he asserted. Pointing to the case of Tadoba, he said the core area is spread over 624 sq km, while the buffer and the territorial forests have an area of 1,100 sq km. “But the Tadoba tigers get VIP treatment while those outside live ‘below poverty line’”, he said. He has a list of 16 other demands to ensure the better protection of the tigers. Apart from the merger of territorial / buffer forest areas and reserves it also includes better monitoring systems such as the electronic eye system presently being used in the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand. Three years ago, Dhotre had undertaken a similar fast against the allotment of coal blocks to Adani in Lohara, falling in the buffer area of Tadoba--- that threatened to destroy the wildlife corridors. That fast had lasted for 14 days.

“Eight tigers have died in the last eight months” Wildlife activist and founder president of Eco-Pro, an NGO from Chandrapur, Bandu Dhotre began an indefinite hunger strike in front of ‘Van Bhavan’ the State's forest headquarters here on Monday, demanding steps for the protection of wildlife, especially tigers. “Eight tigers have died in the last eight months due to various reasons and the government’s apathy to wildlife protection has contributed to it,” Mr. Dhotre told The Hindu. “This protest is not against the forest department only, it is to awaken the government to the grave situation we are facing.” The demands of the NGO include merger of the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) forests in Chandrapur district, along with its employees, into Chandrapur, Central Chanda and Bramhapuri forest divisions for effective tiger protection; installation of the ‘electronic eye’ system in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) on the grounds of Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve and removal of fire protection work of the TATR from the FDCM. Mr. Dhotre has also demanded that Chandrapur be declared a ‘Tiger District’ and protection provided to every tiger as per norms of a reserve. “There is an intense need to carry out corridor mapping through the Wildlife Institute of India and to appoint ‘van patils’ in Chandrapur district and other forest areas in Vidarbha on the lines of ‘police patils,” he said. Vidarbha has witnessed many tiger deaths in the last few months, due to poaching and other reasons. Forest officials refused to comment on the hunger strike. Keywords: Bandu Dhotre, hunger strike, wildlife protection, tiger conservation, Maharashtra forests

Nashik(14-July-2012) NAGPUR:(KIRTI RANSHOOR): Wildlife Activist, Environmentalist, Social worker and Founder President of Eco-Pro (Ecological Protection Organisation) Bandu Dhotre who went on an indefinite fast on July 2 in front of Van Bhavan, the State Forest Department’s Headquarters in Nagpur to urge the Government to take effective measures for the protection of wildlife, ended his fast on Wednesday evening after the State Government’s assurances that it would fulfill most of the demands made by him for the effective protection of wildlife. He was hospitalized on July 10. Now he is fine. Forest Minister Patangrao Kadam had called a meeting in Mumbai to consider the demands. Pravin Pardeshi, Principal Secretary, Revenue & Forest Departments, Maharashtra State held talks with Cabinet Ministers of Vidarbha (Eastern Region of Maharashtra), Rajendra Mulak, Minister of State for Finance & Planning, Energy, Water Resources & Parliamentary Affairs; Shivajirao Moghe, Minister of State for Social Justice; Nitin Raut, Minister of State for Animal Husbandry; Anil Deshmukh, Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies; State Environment Minister Sanjay Deotale, senior journalist Shyam Pandharipande, Swanand Soni of Srushti Paryavaran Mandal and Dhirendra Mulkalwar of Eco-Pro. The government gave assurance that almost all the demands will be met, except merging forest area under the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra [FDCM] in Chandrapur District with territorial forests. The government assured that hereafter wildlife protection will be the priority of FDCM. Accordingly, wildlife management plan will be introduced by the government for FDCM. “But we will continue the movement until the government decides to merge the FDCM forest with territorial forests to preserve the natural heritage. A committee comprising forest officials and NGOs will be set up by the Government to watch over the implementation of the plans,” Mr. Dhotre told Deshdoot Times on phone from Nagpur. “Chandrapur will be declared as a 'Tiger District'. The Government had put the protection of wildlife existing ouside tiger projecs on the back burner. But now tigers in the non-protected areas will be protected on the lines of protected areas,” he further said. “The agitation provided a platform to wildlife activists. My message, raising awareness about effective wildlife protection reached wildlife activists across the state. Now a strategy will be devised to accomplish the goal of foolproof protection of wildlife. Efforts will be taken to achieve coordination between different NGOs and wildlife activists across the State. We will launch a systematic campaign. The agitation might have ended, but the movement will continue... with greater passion than ever,” he concluded.

NAGPUR: Wildlife activist Bandu Dhotre launched an indefinite fast from Monday to try and jump start tiger conservation activities by the state. Dhotre's fast started at 11am in front of PWD Sankul, Civil Lines, to demand protection of tigers in the state, and Chandrapur in particular. His effort got support from many people, including a group of school students, who painted a huge picture of a helmet over tigers with forest in the background to depict 'helmet is lifeguard for riders, so is forest for tigers'. Dhotre, founder of Eco-Pro, an ecological protection NGO from Chandrapur, may be perhaps the only person to launch an indefinite fast for tigers. The fast got huge support from volunteers and conservationists from the city, including students from Hadas High School, Prahar Military School and RS Mundle High School. The stir is being supported by Nagpur Environment Protection Group (NEPG) and other NGOs. Before the fast, a delegation led by Shyam Pandharipande, Swanand Soni, Vilas Kale, Arjun Dhanwatey, Anuradha Paul, Nitin Jatkar, Neeraj Khandewale, Arvind Giri, Sanjay Karkare and others submitted a list of demands to PCCF (wildlife) SWH Naqvi. Two rounds of talks between Dhotre and wildlife wing officials had failed last month, leading to the fast. Naqvi told the delegation that the demands have already been forwarded to the state government. Congress MP from Nagpur Vilas Muttemwar, who is fighting to get legal status to Nagpur as 'World Tiger Capital', visited Dhotre at 2.30pm and appealed to him to call off the fast. BJP MLA from South-West Nagpur Devendra Fadnavis also called upon Dhotre in the evening. Talking to newsmen, Muttemwar agreed that Dhotre's demands to save tigers were genuine, but said it will take time to meet them as files move slowly in government departments. "When it comes to Vidarbha, the delay is more," he lamented. He tried to convince Dhotre by saying the method of resorting to fast to fulfil demands has become outdated. "It's a long battle which will have to be continued. It is not only Bandu's fight, but all of us should support him," said Muttemwar. "Tigers are not an issue with most people and hence both, state and central government, are not concerned about tigers in Vidarbha," he said. He suggested the forest minister should be from Vidarbha as most of the forest is here. Muttemwar also took pot shots at forest minister Patangrao Kadam for showing lack of interest in the ministry. Even after spurt in poaching in Chandrapur district, Kadam has never bothered to visit the area. He came only after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray planned a visit to Chandrapur. Citing the tiger death on Saturday in Junona, Muttemwar said the tiger died in a territorial fight, which means tigers are crying for space. "The government needs to act fast and relocate villages to create space," he added. The MP declared wholehearted support to Dhotre, saying the demands raised by him have already been raised with chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and minister for environment and forests Jayanthi Natarajan. However, on the ground tiger protection remains grim. Muttemwar also spoke to principal secretary (forests) Praveen Pardeshi, who told him that most of the demands can be met but it will take time to legalize them. Fadnavis too has promised to raise the issue in the monsoon session of the assembly. Dhotre apprised Muttemwar and Fadnavis about the need to take over rich forest areas presently under the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM). "The FDCM is into felling of timber. Wildlife management practices are zero in FDCM areas, causing problems," said Dhotre. Dhotre's Wish List * Merge FDCM areas in Chandrapur district along with staff into Chandrapur forest division, and convert it into a wildlife circle * Set up 'Electronics Eye' project in TATR on the lines of Jim Corbett to nail poachers * Withdraw fire protection work in tiger reserve from FDCM and keep it under field director * Declare Chandrapur as tiger district * Set up quick response teams (QRTs) and rescue centre at Chandrapur * Create wildlife intelligence department with secret funds * Restrict resorts around TATR that are blocking tiger corridors * Reorganize area of beats and create new posts * Set up forensic lab in Nagpur for wildlife investigations