Dumna Nature Reserve(DNR) in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur area is a well-preserved ecological habitat in an urban area. It is spread over 1,000 hectares and has rich wildlife with a history of nearly 150 years of conservation.However, it is increasingly facing threats from various projects including a tiger safari, a road, an institute that are being proposed or cleared in and around it. A group of biologists, environmentalists and wildlife experts have now filed several public interest litigations to halt all such plans. The petitioners argue that if allowed, projects such as tiger safari would increase footfall in the reserve which would negatively impact Dumna and its wildlife, while also increasing chances of human-wildlife conflict. Spread over hundreds of hectares and home to a rich variety of wildlife, the Dumna Nature Reserve (DNR) in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur area, is being threatened by a series of projects with the latest being a tiger safari, aimed at promoting tourism to the area. However, there is an ongoing movement to keep the reserve undisturbed and at least three public interest litigation (PILs) have been filed in the Madhya Pradesh High Court for this.
Dumna is among the most well preserved ecological habitats in an urban area and it is also a catchment area for the Khandari Lake which is an important source of drinking water supply to the city. This reserve and the adjoining forest areas have a history of nearly 150 years of conservation. Over the years, the reserve that also acts as the lungs of the city has evolved as a well-preserved ecological habitat. It has a population of nine leopards, more than 2,000 deer, host of other wildlife such as cheetal, barking deer, four-horned antelope, jungle cat, Asiatic wild cat, wild boar, crocodile and more than 300 species of birds (both migrant and resident). According to the PILs, the park boasts of diverse ecosystems – woodlands, grasslands and wetlands. etc. Over the past few years, a series of projects have been proposed or cleared in the area and its surroundings, threatening its future. Anshuman Singh, a lawyer who has filed two such PILs in the MP High Court arguing that the proposal to establish the tiger safari is arbitrary and illegal, explained to Mongabay-India that it is not the just the future of the DNR that is at stake but also of those living around it. Originally, Dumna was spread over 1,000 hectares (about 2,500 acres) but now it is spread in an area of about 1800 acres. “This place has had a history of 150 years of conservation and has flourished over time developing itself into an entirely self-sustained and beautiful ecosystem. But now the difficulty is that the administration looks upon this land as a land parcel which can be utilised for various purposes and it comes up time and again with various schemes. Years ago, 100 hectares were given for the Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing and now a tiger safari and several other projects for non-forestry purposes are being proposed,” said Singh. He revealed that there are proposals to allot a large tract of land “from the area just outside nature park but within the conserved ecosystem” to the railways for construction of their offices, another piece of land to tourism corporation for an institute, another land parcel for development of a convention center or a hotel, for an IT park and lastly an international cricket stadium.
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