,Aarti Srivastava,
Valmiki Tiger Reserve: If you love nature and wildlife, then you can visit Valmiki Tiger Reserve located in West Champaran, Bihar. Recently, a new beginning has been made to provide water to the wildlife in this reserve. Water is being provided through green energy in Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR), the only tiger sanctuary of Bihar. To ensure that tigers and other wildlife do not face shortage of water in summer and do not have to go to human settlements in search of it, the traditional methods of filling water pits present in grasslands have been changed. This is the first time such an initiative has been taken in this sanctuary.
Use of solar powered pumps
Low-cost and eco-friendly solar-powered pumps have been installed in the sanctuary to provide regular water to the tigers and other wildlife. Earlier, to quench the thirst of wild animals, reservoirs were filled through water tankers. Obviously this process was expensive and also took a lot of time. Officials here say that so far four pumps have been installed in this protected area. If this experiment is successful, more pumps will be installed.
what will be the effect
When there is provision of water in the sanctuary to quench their thirst, the animals will not go to nearby settlements in search of water. Till now it has been happening that during summer, the water bodies and rivers passing through the tiger reserve either have less water, or they dry up. In such a situation, tigers and other wildlife living here go to nearby human settlements in search of water. Due to this, there remains a possibility of human-wildlife conflict.
The water holes present here are the lifeline.
There are a total of 40 water holes, including natural and artificial, in this tiger reserve, which are either built in the grasslands, or located around them. These are the lifeline for all the wildlife that lives here. For the past few years, Bihar has been facing severe heat and long periods of heat wave are also being seen here, due to which there is water shortage.
Number of tigers exceeds 50
According to official data, the number of tigers in VTR will increase to 54 in 2023. The total number of tigers here in the year 2018 was 31 and in 2014 it was only 28. Last July, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had officially said about the increase in the number of tigers in Valmiki Tiger Reserve.
VTR is the only tiger sanctuary of Bihar
Valmiki Tiger Reserve is the only tiger sanctuary in Bihar. It is situated in the north-western part of West Champaran district of Bihar. It should be noted that the name of Champaran district is made up of two words – Champa and Aranya, which means forest of Champa trees. VTR includes both Valmiki National Park and Valmiki Wildlife Sanctuary. VTR Valmiki Wildlife Sanctuary is spread over 880 square kilometers. It is bounded by Nepal in the north and Uttar Pradesh in the west.
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