Forest officials step up vigil as tigers sighted near Bhopal

A tiger and a tigress have been sighted frequenting a thicket near Kaliyasot dam on the district's outskirts which has triggered panic among people, prompting forest officials to step up vigil in the area.
However, an environmentalist said the felines are sneaking into human settlements in search of prey as herbivorous animals have disappeared from the thicket of Bhopal's green belt.
The two big cats have been spotted several times on roads near Kaliyasot dam where illegal encroachments have cropped up in the area which once was a forest reserve.
"Both the animals are moving in their corridor - a green belt stretching from Ratapani wildlife sanctuary in neighbouring Raisen district to the reserve forest area of the district," Bhopal Range Officer Jitendra Gupta told PTI today.

The tigress was seen recently near the forested area close to a college there, he said.
"Day before yesterday, a person noticed a tiger near Kaliysot area and informed police. We immediately informed the forest officials, who are keeping a round-the-clock vigil in the area," Chunnabhatti area inspector Manoj Patwa said.

The tiger has formed its territory in the jungles of Bhopal for last couple of years, Gupta said adding the tigress too often hangs around the thicket of the state capital.
The forest officials as of now have no plan to shift the two carnivores to some tiger reserve, Patwa said.

"Besides a tiger and tigress, five more striped animals were moving in the forested area of Bhopal," said Ajay Dubey, founder secretary of Prayatan NGO working for wildlife.
He said the tigers were sneaking into human settlement in search of cattle for prey given that the herbivorous animals have vanished (died) from the thicket of Bhopal green belt connected to Ratapani sanctuary.
"All this has happened due to the poor grass management. The forest department officials have failed to protect grass following which the green track has become devoid of herbivorous animals," he alleged.
Dubey said after a tiger cub was electrocuted in 2012 by poachers at Kathotia forest village, close to Kerwa dam situated on the outskirt of the city, a committee of forest officials was formed. It recommended that the tiger corridor running from Ratapani to the jungles situated around the district should be declared as conservation reserve but it has not happened yet, he said.

"I am going to move the (Madhya Pradesh) High Court seeking that the reserved forest area around the district to Ratapani be turned into conservation reserve for protecting the majestic beasts in the wake of tiger killing in 2012," he added.