Wildlife board defers notifying MM Hills sanctuary in Karnataka as tiger reserve again

A member of the State Wildlife Board on condition of anonymity said, “No decision was taken to notify the MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve. This was postponed. The CM was reluctant to give the approval on November 3.”

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), last year, gave its approval to declare MM Hills as a tiger reserve and since then, the Karnataka government has been dragging its feet.

Wildlife experts said while the Tamil Nadu government has declared the 686.406 sq km reserve forest in the Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts as the Cauvery South Wildlife Sanctuary, it is important that the MM Hills is declared as a tiger reserve in order to sustain the tiger population.

Wildlife conservationist Joseph Hoover said, “The Cauvery South Wildlife Sanctuary maintains continuity to the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in Tamil Nadu through the MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and the BRT Tiger Reserve in Karnataka. Despite concerted efforts by the members of the State Wildlife Board on November 3, the chief minister has been reluctant to give a go-ahead.”

Hoover added, “If MM Hills is declared as a tiger reserve, it will help to sustain the tiger population in Sathyamangalam tiger reserve (Tamil Nadu), BRT tiger reserve and Bannerghatta National Park. A contiguous and undisturbed corridor could help to enhance the gene pool of the tiger populations in the south-eastern forest landscapes.”

If MM Hills is notified as a tiger reserve, Chamarajanagar will become the first district in the country to have three tiger sanctuaries. The district already houses the Bandipur Tiger Reserve and the BRT Tiger Reserve.

Housing minister V Somanna in August this year had told the media that since the MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary houses a temple which is visited by thousands of devotees every year and several villages are located on the fringes of the forest, the notification to declare it as a reserve was put on hold.

However, Hoover said, “Prime minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly talked about protecting and augmenting biodiversity in the country but his ministers and MLAs in Karnataka are hell bent to destroy the fragile ecosystem. Somanna has stopped the chief minister from agreeing to notify it (MM Hills) as a tiger reserve.”

MM Hills was declared as a wildlife sanctuary in 2013. A proposal to notify it as a tiger reserve was submitted to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in May 2019 but it was returned since a few clarifications were required pertaining to the delineation of the core areas. A revised proposal was sent to the NTCA in January 2020 which was approved last year.

A senior forest officer on condition of anonymity said, “The number of tigers in MM Hills has grown. In 2018, there were eight tigers and now we believe that there are more than 25. It is important that this place is declared as a tiger reserve since it will improve the breeding of tigers.”

The officer added, “The MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary shares its borders with the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, BRT Tiger Reserve in Karnataka and Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu so there is a huge movement of tigers in this corridor. Despite our best efforts, the area could not be declared as a reserve. Once the sanctuary is declared as a reserve, the villagers who will move out of the core areas will be given grants.”