A view of Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, Aug. 7: The wild animals of Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary area are all set to get more breathing space.

With a large area of the sanctuary coming under the construction plan of Subernarekha Multipurpose Project (SMP), the sanctuary will get additional land in compensation, if the plan of the state forest department goes accordingly.

The state forest department is mooting a proposal to increase the area of Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary by including some of the forest areas of adjoining Seraikela and Dhalbhum forest divisions.

The department authorities of the two territorial forest divisions and wildlife division ? Seraikela forest division, Dhalbhum forest division, and the Ranchi wildlife division (which has the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary under its jurisdiction) have already completed the ground work.

According to the Dalma divisional forest officer, Dinesh Kumar, a total of 146 hectare of the sanctuary area will be acquired by the state water resource department. The area will be used for dam, canal and distributory construction work for SMP.

?According to the proposals, entire Chandil forest range, under Seraikela territorial forest division, and parts of Mango, and Chakulia range under Dhalbhum forest division, will be incorporated in the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary area,? said Paritosh Upadhayay, the divisional forest officer of Seraikela, while talking to The Telegraph.

Upadhayay said they have identified a total of 2,000 hectares under the Chandil range of Seraikela forest division. Sources in the forest department added that the proposal will be sent to the state forest headquarters first and then to the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) for their approval.

The plan to include more forest areas under Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary was followed by a visit by the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court.

The two-member committee, comprising senior members of National Wildlife Board (NBW), an entity under the Union MoEF, has made several recommendations.

The recommendations include structural modifications in the construction plan of SMP and an increase in the overall area of the wildlife sanctuary, to improve its overall ecology in the wake of the construction of the dam and the canal.

The committee had also recommended that the path of movement, of elephants, should not be affected due to the construction plan. The proposed areas, under both the wildlife divisions, fall in the path of the movement and migration path of these animals.

Kumar informed that at present a total of 193 square km forest area falls under Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary. Out of this, the SMP authorities have acquired about 146 hectare for undertaking construction work.