HYDERABAD: The Telangana Forest Department has reclaimed possession of a five-acre parcel of land in Nirmal district, which is in the heart of the Kawal Tiger Reserve.
following concerns raised by the National Tiger Conservation Authority over the state government’s intention to establish ‘Telangana Kreeda Pranganam’, a sports complex.
Deccan Chronicle had on July 7 reported (‘Sports complex in Telangana's tiger reserve
sparks concerns') that the Nirmal district administration has begun building the sports complex in the forest within the Buttapur village limits of Nirmal’s Dasturabad mandal. Buttapur is about 10 kilometres, aerially, from Jannaram, the headquarters of the tiger reserve.
Following the publication of the news report, the NTCA wrote to the state forest department on July 7 asking for an action taken report. Following this, NTCA officials said, the Authority received a response from the forest department informing that the land had been reclaimed from the possession of the Nirmal district administration.
"After the NTCA's intervention, we took control of the land and had all the sporting material removed, including the infrastructure for a volleyball court," according to a forest department official. The arch that was constructed at the complex's entrance and was meant to be the playground has not yet been taken down, the official added.
Further, the official noted that the forest department was awaiting approval from the district administration to file a case and proceed legally on the Dasturabad mandal parishad development officer, who had already received a notice from the department when work on the playground began.
