Rail tracks may be shifted out of tiger reserve to protect wildlife in Palamu

• The railways and the state forest department will inspect alternative routes outside Palamau Tiger Reserve in Jharkhand to protect wildlife
• The forest department objected to laying a railway line in the core area of the reserve, citing adverse effects on wildlife movement
• The railways have agreed to explore alternative alignments outside the core area, while conservationists advocate for underpasses to protect wildlife

In a bid to ensure a safe haven for wildlife in Jharkhand's Palamau Tiger Reserve (PTR), the railways and the state forest department will soon launch a joint inspection to explore alternative routes outside its core area.

If all goes according to plan, the inspection to find alternative routes for the two existing lines and the proposed third line outside the PTR core is likely to be carried out this month, a forest department official said. Wild animals such as elephants, leopards, gray wolves, gaurs, sloth bears, four-horned antelopes, otters and nutcrackers are found in PTR. Two cases of tiger sightings have also been reported in 2020 and this year.

The forest department has objected to the third line proposal for a freight corridor from Son Nagar in Bihar to Patrat in Jharkhand passing through the core area. In the core area of ​​the reserve, it was proposed to lay an 11 km long railway line. The Forest Service expressed concern that the proposed line would split the reserve into two zones due to the frequency of trains and permanently fragment the habitat. This will have an adverse impact on wildlife movement.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) also warned against the construction of another railway line in the PTR in 2020. Later, the Jharkhand government took cognizance of the forest authorities' concerns and sent a proposal to the railways to shift the proposed line from the core area to the buffer zone of the PTR.

"Recently the Railways has given consent to explore the alternative alignment of the proposed third railway line and the existing two lines outside the PTR core area. The railway lines will be shifted to the buffer zone of the reserve," said PTR Field Director Kumar Ashutosh to reports.

Former state wildlife committee member DS Srivastava said the shifting of all the three railway lines from the core area will reduce the casualties of wild animals in the region. He said: "The existing two lines have caused the death of several wild animals in the reserve." In August 2020, five deer were mowed down by a freight train in PTR. About 15 elephants and several other animals such as bison and deer have been killed on the track in the past decade.  Even if the railway line is moved from the core area, it will still be in the reserve area, which could affect the movement of migratory elephants, Srivastava said. "I would request the railways to provide adequate underpass in the reserve area for the movement of elephants," Srivastava added.

The PTR, teeming with tigers in the 1970s, reported a zero population in 2018. However, a tigress was found dead in February 2020, while a tiger was spotted in the reserve last month. The reserve recorded its highest tiger population in 1995 with 71 tigers. After that, the population began to decline. There were 44 in 1997, 34 in 2002, 10 in 2010 and three in 2014, according to a book written by former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Jharkhand, Pradeep Kumar.