<p>Big cats in the Pench Tiger Reserve will finally get back what was taken from them. On the basis of a court order, the Irrigation Department has freed 15 hectares that a colony it runs occupies in the heart of the reserve. </p>.<p><br />After the November 19 interim order from the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, the Irrigation Department on December 6 handed over the colony inside the Pench Tiger Reserve to the Forest Department.<br /><br />The direction came from a division bench of Justices B R Gavai and V M Deshpande on a writ petition filed by Kishor Rithe, a member of the Nature Conservation Society, Amravati. On April 22, 2002, Justice J N Patel and P S Brahme had ruled that no human settlements are permissable inside the Pench National Park, which is also a tiger reserve. However, even after 12 years, the colony was not handed over. </p>.<p><br />After the 2002 order, the chief secretary of Maharashtra had convened a meeting where it was decided that the Irrigation Department and Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board would keep the bare minimum area to maintain the Pench Hydroelectric Power Project.</p>
<p>Big cats in the Pench Tiger Reserve will finally get back what was taken from them. On the basis of a court order, the Irrigation Department has freed 15 hectares that a colony it runs occupies in the heart of the reserve. </p>.<p><br />After the November 19 interim order from the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, the Irrigation Department on December 6 handed over the colony inside the Pench Tiger Reserve to the Forest Department.<br /><br />The direction came from a division bench of Justices B R Gavai and V M Deshpande on a writ petition filed by Kishor Rithe, a member of the Nature Conservation Society, Amravati. On April 22, 2002, Justice J N Patel and P S Brahme had ruled that no human settlements are permissable inside the Pench National Park, which is also a tiger reserve. However, even after 12 years, the colony was not handed over. </p>.<p><br />After the 2002 order, the chief secretary of Maharashtra had convened a meeting where it was decided that the Irrigation Department and Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board would keep the bare minimum area to maintain the Pench Hydroelectric Power Project.</p>
