Rapacious assault on Rangayyanadurga

Diminishing wealth

But utter neglect and lackadaisical attitude of the forest department may result in many of the species going extinct, fear environmentalists. What is alarming is that the forest wealth here is being looted by miscreants as Rangayyanadurga is not much known to the outside world.

While the animals are being hunted during night, it’s a daylight robbery of precious plants and trees in the forest. Miscreants also set fire to the forest, thereby resulting in the loss of precious forest wealth.

The forest department is looking the other way, even as the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 is being violated with impunity. Environmentalists claim that 5,000 hectares of forest have been lost in a span of just two years.

There have also been instances of illegal chemical lime units and brick kilns thriving in the forest, besides trees being cut rampantly.

The greens also take exception to windpower companies with political clout trying to establish windmills atop the hills in Rangayyanadurga. If the government gives the go-ahead, it could mean increased human activity and the beginning of the end for the precious wildlife and pristine beauty of the forest.  

The Rangayyanadurga forest range is comparable to ‘Kappatagudda’ in Mundargi taluk of Gadag district with several rare medicinal herbs found here. The forest is also home to the shy ‘kondukuri,’ a rare variety of wild sheep.

The forest is spread over an area of 80 sq km and is home to trees and plants like sandalwood, ‘holematti’, ‘kamara’, ‘dindaga’, ‘kachu’, ‘honne’, ‘marale’, ‘pachali’, ‘jane’, ‘nagari’ and ‘bettada tavare’.

Medicinal plants like goose berries, ‘kadu kottambari’, ‘madhunashini’, ‘mekkegida’ (which is used in the treatment of heart diseases) are found in abundance here. The forest is also home to the wild onion which is used in the treatment of animals.

Other medicinal plants like ‘alika-ullika’, ‘totlukayi’, ‘alilukayi’, and others are found in the forest. Lemon grass, which is believed to be found only in Kerala’s Western Ghats, is also found in Rangayyanadurga.

There are also black deer, cheetah, bear, star turtle, jackal, hyena, wild cat, porcupine, peacock, iguana and other birds and animals in the Rangayyanadurga forest. The ‘daravayina’ bird, whose numbers are dwindling, can also be found in the Rangayyanadurga forest, said Sanjay Gubbi, member of the State Wildlife Advisory Board. A number of streams are part of the forest enhancing its beauty.  Rangayyanadurga’s rich biodiversity is in urgent need of being protected from predators of the human kind. For that the forest department must get its act together and now.