The 19th meeting of the State Wildlife Board (SBWL), chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, will be held on Wednesday and is slated to clear many projects which, according to environmentalists, may be detrimental to wildlife. It will be the first such meeting to be chaired by Shinde. Several key environmentalists appointed by the earlier government have been removed and new environmentalists appointed. The SBWL meeting is also likely to approve creation of 18 conservation reserves at Velhe-Mulshi in Pune/Raigad, Naneghat in Pune/Thane, Bhorgirigad in Pune, Dindori in Nashik, Surgana in Nashik, Taharabad in Nashik, Kareghat in Nandurbar, Chinchpada in Nandurbar, Alibag in Raigad, Ghera in Manikgad/Raigad, Rajmachi in Thane/Pune, Lonavala in Pune/Raigad, Gumtara in Thane, Jawhar in Palghar, Dhamani in Palghar, Asherigad in Palghar and Aatpadi in Sangli One of the proposals is for diversion of 413 hectares of reserve forest for an industrial plant. The project is in the Tiger Corridors of Tipeshwar and Kanhargaon Wildlife Sanctuary, and Tipeshwar and Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve.
