Tadoba

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Bamboo flowering

2024

Vijay Pinjarkar, January 22, 2024: The Times of India

Bamboo coverage in Tadoba
From: Vijay Pinjarkar, January 22, 2024: The Times of India

The sprawling tiger landscape in Chandrapur district is facing a natural catastrophe as 90% of its bamboo plantations would die soon due to gregarious flowering, which would not only cause ecological imbalance but also leave herbivores without food for months. The biggest challenge is to protect the affected areas from forest fires and grazing for proper introduction of seedlings after bamboo extraction, say experts.


Gregarious flowering is closely related to the 40-year lifecycle of bamboo after which it dies. Forest officials told TOI that Tadoba and its entire landscape has naturally occurring Dendrocalamus Strictus species of bamboo having a lifecycle of 40 years. As per official records, the last gregarious flowering of bamboo in Chandrapur occurred in 1982-83. “Now, after over 40 years another flowering has occurred. Soon 90% of the bamboo in most of the forest ranges, barring Virur in Central Chanda, will die,” said a retired divisional forest officer (DFO) involved in the mitigation exercise. 
 The bamboo flowering is seen in TATR, its buffer, Chandrapur, Central Chanda and Bramhapuri forest divisions and also areas with Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM). Maharashtra PCCF (HoFF) Shailesh Tembhurnikar told TOI that bamboo flowering has occurred in at least 1.30 lakh hectares forest area, including Tadoba. “As felling inside a protected area is prohibited as per Supreme Court directives, we will not remove bamboo from the core area, but propose to do it in territorial areas with permissions,” he said.


The forest department has roped in Retired Forest Employees Association-Pune, an NGO comprising senior forest officers, to submit a detailed mitigation plan. Ex-DFO SM Jagtap said, “Surveys have been done and a report will be submitted soon.” Retired DFO Ashok Khune surveyed the Central Chanda division. “Over 19,000 hectares of bamboo area has flowered here. Barring Virur range, entire bamboo clusters have witnessed 99% gregarious flowering. We will submit a detailed plan on streams, rivulets, forest roads, waterholes etc and also the quantity of bamboo that will be extracted,” he said. Khune said affected areas will have to be closed for at least three years. “If there are fires, there will be no regeneration of bamboo,” he said.


He feared bamboo removal will lead to wild animal migration and shortage of food. “The vast stretches in Ballarshah will turn into plain lands,” he said.


As per officials, the move may lead to man-animal conflict as tigers are thriving in Tadoba due to large-scale bamboo clusters.


FDCM too is gearing up to remove bamboo. Sumeet Kumar, regional manager of FDCM, Chandrapur, said, “Flowering has affected around 20,000 hectares in our area. We are yet to finalize plans.”