Following a mid-day report on the Maharashtra Forest Department’s proposal to exclude several villages from the Tiger Conservation Plan and Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) of the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has sought a detailed response.

The NTCA has asked the state to justify, with scientific evidence, why these villages should be removed from the ESZ. Environmentalists have already raised concerns, warning that diluting ESZ protections could open the area to mining and red-category industries, posing a serious threat to the tiger corridor and the region’s biodiversity.