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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Maharashtra-Andhra play ‘cupid’ to lone tiger

Mumbai: In a warm gesture, the Maharashtra government has ‘in principle’ agreed to translocate two tigresses to the Papikonda National Park (PNP) in Andhra Pradesh, subject to clearance from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), official sources said. The PNP is located in the Papi Hills of Eluru and Polavaram districts, and Maharashtra has responded positively to a request from the AP Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan. On Feb. 19, Kalyan, who holds the Environment & Forests...

Maharashtra-Andhra play ‘cupid’ to lone tiger

Mumbai: In a warm gesture, the Maharashtra government has ‘in principle’ agreed to translocate two tigresses to the Papikonda National Park (PNP) in Andhra Pradesh, subject to clearance from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), official sources said. The PNP is located in the Papi Hills of Eluru and Polavaram districts, and Maharashtra has responded positively to a request from the AP Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan. On Feb. 19, Kalyan, who holds the Environment & Forests departments, had made a formal written request to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, seeking two tigresses from the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) of Chandrapur district. Citing the backgrounder, Kalyan said that on Jan. 20, a dispersing tiger from central India had entered AP state through the eco-sensitive zone of PNP tiger reserve, after traversing through Telangana. ‘Dispersing’ is the natural behaviour of young and independent tigers to leave their birthplace to carve their own territories, find mates and establish a new home. This prevents inbreeding, reduces competition on resources with their parents and enables genetic health of the larger tiger population in the wilds. The migrant tiger traversed over 650-kms through Eluru, East Godavari and Konaseema districts for nearly three weeks mostly through human dominated landscapes, when it was hunting for food also. “Though there were 20-22 instances of livestock depredation, no human injury was reported,” informed Kalyan, adding that the tiger passed through three States. Explaining the purpose for seeking two tigresses, Kalyan contended that it would boost inter-state wildlife conservation and sustainable tiger conservation in the Eastern Ghats landscape. Considering public safety and the NTCA’s Standard Operating Procedures the migrant tiger was tranquilized and safely captured on Feb. 6, 2026 through coordinated efforts of AP Forest Department, veterinarians and wildlife experts, he said. To keep track of his further movements, the tiger was fitted with a Satellite Radio Collar (SRC) and released in the PNP. Thereafter, the AP’s Expert Committee suggested release of two female tigers to facilitate breeding and territorial stability. After examining the issue in detail, Maharashtra’s Chief Wildlife Warden & Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Marthala Shrinivasa Reddy informed Additional Chief Secretary (Forest), that the proposal may be considered ‘in principle’, subject to formal proposal by AP government to NTCA and approvals from the latter and preparations of a mutually agreed translocation and post-release monitoring. “The translocation of tigers from Maharashtra to another state involves inter-State transfer of Schedule-I wildlife and requires prior approval of NTCA and other competent authorities as prescribed under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and relevant guidelines,” Reddy informed. Reddy said that while the male-female ratio in TATR is comparatively low, but the adjoining Chandrapur Forest circle possesses an adequate female tiger population, from where two suitable females could be considered for translocation after all statutory approvals and procedures are completed. After Reddy’s green signal, the state Deputy Secretary (Forests) Niketa Pande wrote to the AP’s Principal Secretary (Environment and Forest) about Maharashtra’s ‘in-principle’ approval, and requested to complete all other formalities at the earliest to provide mates for the solo tiger in PNP.

Unrest within Mahayuti

Updated: Jan 21, 2025

Mahayuti

Mumbai: The state administration on Sunday stalled the appointments of guardian ministers in Raigad and Nashik districts. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had cleared the appointments before he left for Davos in Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum on Saturday. They are believed to have been stalled on behest of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who heads the state in absence of the Chief Minister.


NCP’s Aditi Tatkare and BJP’s Girish Mahajan were entrusted with responsibilities of guardian minister for the Raigad and Nashik districts respectively, where Shiv Sena’s Bharat Gogawale and Dada Bhuse had staked claims. Gogawale is a first-time minister while, Bhuse had been the guardian minister of the district during previous government under Eknath Shinde.


Shiv Sena, NCP and BJP all the three constituents of Mahayuti have strong roots in both the districts. However, the Shiv Sena and the NCP had been particularly on loggerheads there. The Shiv Sena, which had been demanding the guardian minister’s post in Nashik district has managed to win only two assembly seats in the district where the NCP has Six and the BJP has Five MLAs. On the contrary, in Raigad the NCP has won only one seat while the Shiv Sena and the BJP both have Three MLAs each in the district.


Sunil Tatkare, MP from Raigad Lok Sabha constituency and the stat unit president of the NCP and father of Aditi Tatkare, had been the guardian minister of Raigad between 2004 and 2014. Gogawale had always been his political opponent before Tatkare joined the Mahayuti government under Ajit Pawar’s leadership in 2023. Gogawale claimed that all the Six Shiv Sena-BJP MLAs in the district had opined in his favour to be the guardian minister of the district and after the decision to appoint Aditi Tatkare was announced, his supporters resorted to violent protests. They burnt tyres in bid to stall traffic on highway in the district. Reacting to the developments, Tatkare said that the issue should be pondered over after CM Fadnavis returns from Davos on Saturday and settled amicably.


In Nashik Girish Mahajan had been the guardian minister of the district between 2014 and 2019 when Fadnavis was the Chief Minister.


The post of guardian minister doesn’t have any constitutional mandate and is considered to be a political appointment. Guardian ministers head the district planning and development councils (DPDC) that control the funds for development works being carried out in the particular district. This control wields much of political power to the minister in that district whereby spreading the party in the district becomes much easier. This is the reason why the grass root politicians seem to be very sensitive to such appointments.


While Gogawale and Bhuse are unhappy about not being appointed as guardian ministers, some others like NCP’s Hasan Mushrif and BJP’s Pankaja Munde are unhappy about not being appointed as guardian district in their home districts of Kolhapur and Beed respectively. DCM Shinde is learnt to have gone to his ancestral village Dare in Satara district after the decision and BJP’s firefighters Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Girish Mahajan are expected to meet him there to try finding a way out of the issue.

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