Study underlines need for developing 50 water bodies in Tadoba tiger habitat Staff Reporter : The increase in tiger population in Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) which has Tadoba National Park and Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary has been a matter of concern for quite some time. Right from tourism to man-animal conflict the tale has many shades. To add to the discourse on improving tiger habitat a study has underlined the need for developing 50 water bodies in Tadoba National Park area. The study titled Design of hydro landscape for improving tiger habitat and tourism at Tadoba National Park has been published recently in the International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences. Garima Dubey Architect School of Planning and Architecture New Delhi; Gauhar Mahmood Professor Civil Engineering Jamia Millia Islamiam New Delhi; Amita Zakiah Consultant Environmental Management Jamia Millia Islamia New Delhi have authored the study. The study stresses upon the need for developing water bodies and resting grounds in the core areas of Tadoba National Park. For the purpose it highlights there is need to prepare water harvesting master plan for the upcoming resorts. By developing approximately 50 water bodies in the depression areas a conducive environment required for tiger growth can be created the authors suggest. With proper development of rainwater harvesting master plan for these resorts water required for irrigation and landscape beautification can be retrieved and rainwater can also be used for development of lakes in the resort campus and excess of water can be diverted to the proposed water bodies in the forest areas they add. “The water bodies may dry quickly because of high evaporation rate and seepage losses. To make these water bodies sustainable suitable surface treatment should be done” it mentions. For the purpose it recommends that a geomembrane base will have to be designed for these water bodies. Rubber is a costly solution plastic also may not work due to high heat. Hence geomembrane made up of clay and bentonite may work. The depth of the small lake to be created inside resorts may vary from 2.2 metres to 3 metres. As per the study the number of tigers in Tadoba National Park area has increased due to favourable conditions for tiger habitat and ample prey availability. The growing number of tigers and ecologically rich environment of Tadoba has been attracting tourists from within India and abroad. As a result there is a growing number of resorts within the vicinity of the forest boundaries. The presence of water bodies is the must criteria for tiger survival and growth. Tadoba has only two sources of perennial water bodies which are mostly occupied by tigers during peak summer. “Consequently other animals do not prefer to go near these water sources to avoid the risk of their ife which makes them sick and they die because of thirst” observe the authors of the study. So they add the forest faces a shortage of prey for tigers. Further the resorts coming up in the proximity of these forests and tourism activities may lead to further exploitation of forest resources especially water. The authors of the study fear that this may also change the micro-climatic conditions of the forest and hence can disturb the conducive environment required for the growth of the tiger. The authors of the paper further argue “We cannot stop development but we can plan it judiciously so that forest resources and wildlife habitat are not compromised.” The paper discusses strategies that can be adopted to overcome adverse effects of resort development and how tourism activities of the area can be modified. Tadoba National Park area receives 1175 mm of annual rainfall which gives it water recharge potential of around 6000 litre per hour state the authors of the paper. According to them the same water can be utilised to develop hydro landscape solutions. Other recommendations of the study include maintaining minimum distance required between wildlife boundaries and urban growth demarcating specific areas for reproductive behaviour of tiger and properly protecting them from tourism and other human activities to ensure privacy and isolation of tiger and developing suitable hydro landscape by conducting eco-inventory in relationship with soil water and vegetation.

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