Almost a year after the Karnataka high court stayed the project that had further threatened the already endangered lion tailed macaque (LTM) ((Macaca silenus), endemic to the Sharavathi river valley nestled in the Western Ghats; the sword of Damocles continues to hang over the primates. The Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) had launched a geothermal survey with heavy machines to ascertain if the 2000 MW underground pump storage hydro-electric project was feasible. Besides LTM, the Sharavathi river valley is also home to a diverse array of species and sustains very rich biodiversity. Though the court stay continues, the south Indian state has not yet withdrawn the project. For the time being, the power project may not have been in the priority list of the government after the change in the political guard, it continues to stare at LTM menacingly. Sharavathi Valley, a Jewel in the Western Ghats The project was proposed within the core area of 902 sq km in the Sharavathi Valle
The dispersing tigers of Bhopal seem to be watching helplessly as their habitat grows smaller, food getting scarcer while a smarter set of predators, the land sharks, increasingly devour their habitat. As you read this, prowling somewhere in the fast-dwindling forests of Kaliasot- Kathotia-Kerwa , on the city outskirts, are 18 magnificent tigers, whose future hangs on the pen tips of Bhopal’s babudom. Pending Tiger Issues Many times, some of these dispersing tigers have left the balding jungle cover and strayed into the National Judicial Academy at Bhadbhada , as if knocking its doors for justice Two tiger issues have been pending for long. After the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) accorded a status of tiger reserve to Ratapani sanctuary , the source population of Bhopal tigers, in 2013, the state government needs to issue a notification. The matter has been pending for the past 7 years. In fact, Ratapani was first recommen