Resort taking shape next to sacred groves in Tamhini

Pune: Even before the advent of wide roads leading up to the sensitive zone of Tamhini Wildlife

Sanctuary

, other establishments have started mushrooming in the neighbourhood — a cause for concern among conservationists.

They have claimed that a

resort

is being constructed within the 10-km periphery of the sanctuary and is located right next to the sacred groves.

Dhananjay Shedbale of the city-based Devrai Foundation told TOI that the resort was being built outside Adarwadi village on the

Tamhini Ghat

Road. “The upcoming resort is on the edge of the Pune and Raigad districts. A dhaba (eatery) has already been set up across the road from the resort site,” he said.

Shedbale’s biggest concern is the resort’s proximity to one of the sacred groves of the region. “The project is located close to Kalkai Devi Devrai (sacred groves), in Kondethar village of Raigad. This could prove harmful for the groves. The development is illegal as it falls under the 10-km periphery area of the Tamhini Sanctuary,” he said.

The organisation has found as many as four such establishments that violate the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) rules around Tamhini. “We have approached the chief conservator of forests (CCF) and submitted our views regarding the harms these illegal developments can cause,” Shedbale added.

CCF (territorial) Vivek Khandekar said, “While the sanctuary is within the forest department’s jurisdiction, the 10-km periphery zone is secured by the Environment Protection Act and falls under the jurisdiction of government’s environment wing.”

Member of the Devrai and other organisations had appealed before the National Green Tribunal to safeguard the sanctuary and periphery zone from illegal development projects. Earlier this year, the NGT had ordered demolishing any development project found within the sanctuary, while those in the periphery zone were halted.

This development came at a time when the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) declared nearly 57,000 sq km area in the Western Ghats as Ecologically Sensitive Areas, across six states, including Maharashtra.