Author: Nagpur Updates

Nagpur: In a move that would disturb passengers, the Nagpur division of Central Railway decided to extend the operation of 12289-90 Mumbai Duronto Express from Ajni Railway Station for the next three months from Sunday (February 9).
Due to the washable apron work on Platform No. 1 at the main station, the popular train, which used to run from Home Platform No. 8 on the Santra Market side, was temporarily operating from Ajni on 8 January.
On 6 February, the Central Railway completed the task of the washable apron in 26 days under the leadership of DRM Somesh Kumar, Chief Engineer (PCE) AK Agrawal, ADRM Jay Singh, Senior Divisional Engineer (Coordination) Pawan Patil and Pankaj Dhaware.
Duronto was expected to start operating again from the home platform, but for the next 3 months, it will depart and end at Ajni Platform No. 2. Sources said that Duronto can operate from Ajni on a regular basis with apron work for Platform 2 in pipeline and straightening of Platform 1 planned.
The decision did not go well with the passengers. Bharatiya Yatri Kendra (BYK) General Secretary Basant Shukla said, “Ajni Station lacks waiting rooms, proper toilets, food stalls, a requisite ramp, lifts, climbers, security, passenger facilities and ample parking. Senior citizens will face a lot of problems. “Former Ajni corporator Tanveer Ahmed said:” While operating trains from Ajni are a good move to make it a full-length terminal, this is being done even as the station lacks basic facilities. The decision appears to have been taken for the convenience of the railroad, as the Duronto maintenance facility is based in Ajni. Now, the train has to shuttle from Platform 8 to Ajni. “Assistant Commercial Manager (ACM) & railway spokesperson SG Rao said,” The decision was taken to ease congestion at Nagpur Station. There are several other trains on the line at 8.40 pm when the train departs. In addition, demand for the conversion of Ajni into a terminus is long pending. Duronto operation will push Ajni’s case to make it a terminus. “Rao added,” RPF staff will be posted to solve the parking problem. Similarly, there is already a small ramp to the end of Nagpur. Lighting at the station has also been enhanced. Coolies will also be available at Ajni an hour before the departure of the train. “Madanal Jagyasa, a regular traveler, felt that the absence of a ramp at the end of Wardha would create inconvenience for front-side coach passengers. “There is also no battery-operated Ajni car facility,” he said.
Facelift to Platform 1 Washable apron work on Platform 1 and Platform 1 was approved in 2015. Apron’s work on Platform 1, where all trains run north, began on 11 January and was finished on 6 February in two phases. Previously, the track was laid on wooden sleepers, which had been eroded by water, and the track specifications had not been properly maintained and had thus become unsafe. Now cement concrete sleepers have been laid over 500 meters away, making train operations secure.

Nagpur: On Friday at Kolara Gate about 100 visitors, including foreigners, have been detained by local Gypsy owners, whom the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) management has banned for their invasion of forest land in the reserve.
Kolara Gate close to Chimur is 115 kilometres from Nagpur, and therefore tourists mostly enjoy it. Visitors waiting at the gate at 6 am were caught out of the guard when the kin of 8 Gypsy owners blocked their entry.
TATR Conservative of Forests (CF) & Field Director, NR Praveen said, “They are 34 of our Gypsy owners, but we have banned their entry because they have invaded forest lands around Kolara and cultivated them for the past 4-5 years.” “Three months ago, we called on these local people to vacate the land they agreed upon provided that once they harvest a standing crop, we had requested it. They still have the forest land, however. We decided to ban them, therefore, “Praveen told TOI.

“You can’t have the best worlds of all. The fundamental objective of ecotourism is to pass on the benefits to these locals. The locals are destroying tiger property, their primary source of livelihood, instead of paying back to Tadoba. You want to take advantage of all the directions that are not possible. The ban will continue until they have decided to vacate the occupied forest land, “added Praveen.
“Such invasions have occurred in the last 3-4 years and are not protected by the Forest Rights Act, 2006. There are reports of residents sold their farms to resort owners and are now seeing forest land destroying them. This is despite the fact that local people are benefiting from various schemes, such as subsidized LPG access etc, “forest officials said to TOI.
Tourists expressed frustration over Gypsy owners ‘ actions. “Action against invaders is fine, but punishing tourists is really frustrating and gives the park a bad name, particularly if groups of visitors from abroad were present. There were no responsible officials on-site to handle the situation early in the morning, “said Devendra Jain of Nagpur.
“Tourists missed the 1.5-hour tiger sightings. The officers should in fact seek police assistance for damage control. Tourists pay for admission through their nose. Why should they suffer? Why should they suffer? The park has a full-service STPF battalion, which should have been summoned immediately, “added Jain.
Taken into consideration the incident, TATR agreed to exclude local residents with a criminal history of wildlife. “These guides, Gypsy owners, and temporary forestry workers (van majoors) will be reviewed. We will see if there are preliminary reports of offences against them before they are involved in the work. This will also include those who have crimes against invasions, “Praveen said.
The 12-year satellite imagery from February 2007-2019 shows a great deal of deforestation, rising and intrusion into the TATR landscape. A TATR survey last year also reported fresh intrusions in the buffer zone following the FRA cut-off date on 13 December 2005.

Nagpur: Pravin Togadia, former president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and now a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has raised the issue of wildlife threats in agricultural land, as he has also called for a birth control law in the country.
“One of the biggest problems dogging the farmers in the country is an infestation of the fields by wild animals such as deer, boar and Neel Gai (blue bull), even lions in my Gujarat home state. I’ve come up with a mechanism to scare off animals with low voltage AC current, into solar power charged wires, “he said during his visit to Nagpur.
“Called Jhatka, I’ve been propagating process in different nation-states. I recently met Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath on the issue, “said Togadia, who was once Sangh Parivar’s Hindutva poster boy and has now distanced himself from the organisation.
The animal doesn’t need to walk over the wire and even going over it will feel the shock.
“I also plan to launch a drive to press for a law that will deny government benefits to a couple with more than two kids,”.
Togadia expressed his disappointment with the Ram Mandir trust’s selections of members. Except for Vasudevanand Saraswati, only PM Narendra Modi’s loyalists were included in the trust, in place of those who actually participated in the Ram Jamanbhoomi movement, “he said.
He said the economy deteriorated and the Modi government failed to address the problem. The banks are ridden by NPAs and the government has dipped into the reserves twice.

NAGPUR: While the longest national highway in the world, NH-7, travelling along Maharashtra’s Pench Tiger Reserve still features reports of wild animal deaths, the animals have now found new ways to escape vehicles.
More than 5,450 wild animals, including 11 tigers, were captured on camera using six highway underpasses, the country’s first dedicated animal crossing structures from March to December 2019, a study by Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, says. Tiger, spotted deer, wild boars, hare and jungle cat were among the first species captured under the structures, and are regularly captured, according to the findings.
Tiger scientist Bilal Habib, who suggested the mitigation measures, said, “The monitoring exercise has shown that these crossing structures contribute to improving the permeability of the landscape. Such mitigation measures, if adopted, would help defragment fragmented landscapes.” WWI Report: 18 wild animal species use underpasses The report, based on March-Decece camera trap survey data According to the WII survey, spotted deer, wild boars and wild dogs were the most frequent users of these underpasses besides tigers and leopards. The jungle cat, mongoose, common palm civet, small Indian civet, Indian hare, rusty-spotted cat, and porcupine were among the other species.
“By the mitigation structures, 89 tiger crossings have been recorded until 31 December. These crossings lead to 11 individual tigers, which are regular users of the underpasses too, “says the report. Nine wildlife mitigation structures have been constructed along a 16.1 km length of the NH-7 passing through forests adjacent to the Pench Tiger Reserve and crossing the Pench-Navegaon-Nagzira tiger corridor as proposed in the May 2015 WII-NTCA Joint Report. “The initial outcomes of tracking NH-7 mitigation steps are very positive. We have recorded 5,381 captures of 18 wild animal species from these underpasses, the most frequent use of which was made by jungle cat, hare, chital, wild pig, wild dog and tiger, “tiger scientist Bilal Habib said.