Agartala, April 7: The forest department of Tripura has urged the Centre to sanction funds for three more wildlife sanctuaries, in addition to the existing four.
The dwindling wildlife in the state, which has the largest forest cover in the region — at least on paper — has been a cause for worry. The state, which once boasted of a large population of rhinos and tigers, is today bereft of the species.
Deputy chief conservator of forest Sushil Debbarma said the Longtarai animal sanctuary would encompass an area of 100 square km in the Longtarai hill range of North Tripura and Dhalai districts. The second sanctuary would cover 90 square km in the Atharomura hill range. The third sanctuary, Central catchment animal sanctuary, will be built on 75 km of land in Jampui Sakhan hill ranges in the Kanchanpur and Longtarai hill ranges in North Tripura and Dhalai districts.
The sanctuaries will give protection to elephants, deer, 400 species of birds, butterflies, and reptiles and the endangered species of clouded leopard, spectacled monkey, shy monkey, bison, wild boar, bear, wild goat and golden cat besides 123 species of plants and 153 varieties of medicinal plants.
Power tariff hike
Caught in the pincer of high debt, rising shortfall in power generation and the Centre’s pressure, the Tripura government is all set to hike power tariff and constitute a power regulatory board.
To worsen matters, the cheque given by the state government to Northeastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) for accumulated debt, has bounced, giving rise to allegations of “fraud and duplicity”.
At a time when the state is reeling under load-shedding, the NEEPCO has made it clear that unless the state government makes an advance monthly payment of Rs 7 crore to clear its dues, it will stop power supply to Tripura.
Power minister Manik De today said the state was unable to meet the power requirements and the situation had taken a turn for the worse because a unit in the Barmura thermal power plant had gone out of service. He said it would be repaired soon.
De told newsmen that it was not possible to repay the state’s debt burden of Rs 154.4 crore immediately. The issue had been discussed with the Centre, “but they have started pressuring us to sign an MoU committing ourselves to implementing the reform programme which we do not accept,” he added.
De said the revenue collection was also not upto the mark. To improve the situation, the government will have to increase power tariff and constitute the power regulatory board.