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Barren land transformed into lush green forest in Nirmal

Besides the greenery, the place now has spotted deer, sambar, nilgais, monkeys, wild boars and other wild animals

By S. Sandeep Kumar

Updated On - 3 July 2021, 12:17 AM

Barren land transformed into lush green forest in Nirmal — Before and after (R) pictures showing how 160 acres of barren forest land in Dasturabad Reserve Forest in the core area of the Kawal Tiger Reserve has transformed into a lush green natural forest following extensive plantation under Haritha Haram.

Hyderabad: As many as 160 acres of barren forest land, encroached upon by villagers from neighbouring areas, was totally devoid of any flora and fauna in 2014. The same patch, part of the Dasturabad Reserve Forest in the core area of the Kawal Tiger Reserve (KTR), has transformed into a lush green natural forest in a matter of just five years. And the animals are back too!

The transformation of this degraded forest in Devunigudem village in Nirmal district began with the first edition of Telangana Ku Haritha Haram in 2015, with the Forest Department taking up a massive plantation of saplings in the area for rejuvenating the forest. Besides the greenery, the place now has spotted deer, sambar, nilgais, monkeys, wild boars and other wild animals.

But bringing back the greenery and animals was no easy task. The Forest Department had to retrieve the encroached land by creating awareness among the villagers from Devunigudem and other villages on the need to increase the forest cover. The local administration, including the District Collector and forest, revenue and police officials, held a series of meetings with the villagers.

After retrieving the land, the department took up an extensive plantation in the area with about 10 to 12 lakh saplings planted every year during June or July besides arranging an additional 20 per cent of saplings for causality replacement. In case of a dry spell spread over a week, critical watering was taken up using tankers. This was repeated again after 15 to 20 days if the dry spell continued, Khanapur FDO U Koteswara Rao told ‘Telangana Today’.