Muralisk,
I can understand your cherished memories here, one can never get enough of this place, I have been in and out of it since 16 years, atleast once a month - 3 times a month. Only wish the forest dept. would not lord over the place like they do, it is also our right to visit the interiors, legally. Shams, Ashwinsid, PjAy in, akroy, TheOne, Cvvikram, ravi64bhp, Nitin, Nickatnight,
Thankyou all for your appreciation of the pictures, when I was capturing whatever I could of this magnificient place, sharing it with guys on T-BHp forum was on my mind. MC,
Opposite Reserve Bank of India, is the AP forest Dept. here you can contact the PCF for making reservations at Vana Mayuri, this forest bunglow, it has 4 suites and rent is 200-400 rupees per day, situated in Dommala Penta, a small village between Mannanur and Srisailam. Go there ASAP.
There are a few more that I will add to the present pics, but no panaroma can beat what we see through our eyes. It took about 6-7 frames to make one panaromic shot (posted here) what our eye see is wider, as a single frame. Members not interested in wildlife conservation, ignore the below writeup.
Also what I wanted to emphasise here, is how we are plundering the last reserves which inhabits the Tiger and its food chain, Nallamalla or NSTR (Nagarjuna Sagar Tiger Reserve) also known as RGTS ( Rajiv Gandhi Tiger Sanctuary). In an area of 3,558 square kilometers there should have been atleast 300 male tigers (requirement for male tiger, 100 square kilometers as its exclusive territory) females are free to wander in and out and are welcome by males, so the females could be double that of males, which gives an approx. figure of atleast 900+ tigers, The lastest annual census conducted by the forest dept. in april-may 09 claims the 2008-09 figure as about 80 tigers. Which has been challenged by others and myself. The figure by all means does not exceed 20-25 tigers. Period.
What can one expect where 6-8 lakh cattle graze in this reserve area annually and consume what is meant for the antelope and other native herbivores ? The primary food source of the Tiger.
Leave the highway and go half a kilometer interior and you will see trees axed or burned, later to be collected as firewood for cooking. (in next pics.)
This rape-en-masse of nature, of this and other forests in India does not go un noticed by the concerned department....it is just that... THEY DONT CARE! and at times are benifacaries too.
Now you know why we are not allowed inside the forest?
The buffer area should be open for visits to NGO's and induvudials by permission, for transparency and monitoring the activities, the core area can be controlled but should be accessible to non gorvenment agencies for keeping a check on the department and its failures.
Since 1992 to today, I have seen so much lost in this region alone, which is near impossible to reverse and with the going trend of poaching, cattle grazing, deforestation and legal and illegal occupation of forest land and directionless, incompetent, impotent forest department, we may never see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Regards,
Last edited by fazalaliadil : 10th June 2009 at 13:08.
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