Chikhaldara’s spider museum lost in bureaucratic cobweb

Amravati: India's first national spider museum, set up with great fanfare at Forest Training Institute (FTI), Chikhaldara with a view to giving boost to tourism and research on spiders in 2018, has disappeared in the bureaucratic webs."There is no trace of the museum at FTI," says arachnologist Dr Atul Bodkhe. "The unique museum no longer exists. The hall has been converted into a classroom now. Rare species of spiders preserved at the museum too are missing," Bodkhe said.With the initiative of the late Prof GN Wankhade, an arachnologist, the museum was set up at FTI, Chikhaldara, to give boost to research on spiders as Melghat is home to innumerable spider species.Then Maharashtra finance and forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar had lauded the museum and assured funds for a separate building for it. "The state govt had sanctioned around Rs37 crore for FTI infrastructure, with Rs3.5 crore reserved for the spider museum," Bodkhe said. "The forest department did not pay attention to museum building and spent the entire fund on developing FTI infrastructure," Bodkhe claimed.Prof Kishore Rithe, head of BNHS, who was also instrumental in setting up the museum along with GN Wankhade, regretted the alleged dismantling of the museum. "It's very unfortunate to hear that the museum has been shut down. While setting up the museum, the forest department should have signed a MoU with a dedicated NGO or institute for manpower and technical expertise," Rithe told TOI. Rithe blamed the forest department and agencies involved for the neglect of the museum. "They failed to take constant follow up for the survival of the facility established. They ought to have gone to any step to ensure the long run of the museum," he feels.The museum building project got stuck during the Covid pandemic. Later, in the absence of any budget provision, the proposal for the museum building did not get govt nod.In 2024, the museum was removed from the FTI campus. "Senior officials said that FTI doesn't have the specialisation to run the museum. They directed us to shut down the museum," Mukta Tekale, director, FTI, Chikhaldara to TOI. "We handed over the preserved species and other material to Gugamal Wildlife Division. A classroom was set up at the hall where the museum was located," she further added.Gugamal Wildlife Division DCF told TOI that she has no knowledge of the spider species being handed over to her division. "I took charge six months ago and have not seen any preserved spider species kept in our custody," she said.