A substantial portion of the Kutku dam was built till 1997, but it came to a halt after intense protests by local tribal communities against the impending displacement
The National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has cleared the construction of the incomplete Kutku Mandal dam, as part of the North Koel irrigation project, that will submerge and fragment over 1,000 hectares of forests and 15 villages inside Palamau Tiger Reserve (PTR), Latehar district, Jharkhand. After the Ken-Betwa river linking project in Panna, Madhya Pradesh, this is the second big project NBWL has recently cleared inside prime tiger habitat. The project has been in the works since the 1970s, but got a renewed push from the Centre and the Prime Minsiter's Office from 2015 onwards.
A substantial portion of the Kutku dam was built till 1997, but it came to a halt after intense protests by local tribal communities against the impending displacement.
The project will submerge 10 sq km of Palamau habitat out of a total of 1,129 sq km. The reserve has seen its tiger population dwindle from 42 in 2003 to a mere 3, owing to grossly weak staff strength and strikes caused by Left-wing extremist groups. Conservationists fear that the situation would worsen after the submergence.
While recommending the wildlife clearance, the NBWL said that the loss of tiger habitat has to be compensated by adding the adjoining government land into the tiger reserve. "The core area should be expanded suitably to cover adjoining uninhabited buffer zone or other forest areas to strengthen conservation measures, as proposed by the state wildlife board in its site-specific wildlife management plan for mitigation of impacts due to Mandal dam," minutes of the NBWL meeting stated.
NBWL noted that the project reservoir will fragment the tiger reserve and compel tigers, elephants and other wildlife to shift their route of dispersal through villages, which could lead to serious man-animal conflict. To prevent it, it has asked the state government to explore resettlement of some of the 13 revenue villages outside the tiger reserve through voluntary resettlement.
"Villages willing for resettlement should be provided special financial and social development packages that go beyond the standard National Tiger Conservation Authority package for tiger reserves. In addition, sufficient funds should be provided to Palamau Tiger Reserve for dealing with human-wildlife conflicts," the NBWL meeting minutes said.
It also asked the state government to provide a comprehensive package to tribal families from 15 villages that still reside inside the tiger reserve. It added that for the trees that will be cut or submerged, ten times more should be planted and raised in the landscape of the tiger reserve, in tune with the management plant. The trees though, have to be planted outside the core area, the NBWL said.
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