Though there was some discussion on possible alternative location for the plant that was to come up near Metpalle, very close to the tiger corridor forests, the TGBWL, at its meeting chaired by forests and environment minister Konda Surekha, decided not to approve the proposal.

The proposed location has over the years, witnessed movement of tigers and leopards and other wildlife, and the National Tiger Conservation Authority had said in May 2024, following a report in these columns on May 19, 2024, about concerns over the ethanol plant that unless proper wildlife clearances are obtained, the project cannot be approved.

The meeting on Monday at the Secretariat was attended by minister Danasari ‘Seethakka’ Anasuya, and MLAs Payam Venkateswarlu, Koram Kanakaiah, Murali Nayak, Ram Das Nayak, and Vedma Bojju and other members of the board.

Senior forest officials including principal secretary, forests, Ahmed Nadeem, PCCF (HoFF) Dr C. Suvarna, PCCF (wildlife) Elu Singh Meru, and others were part of the meeting.

Another significant decision by the board was approving establishment of a ‘Tiger Cell’ at Aranya Bhavan, the forest department headquarters, to monitor tiger and leopard activity and record human-wildlife conflict outside designated wildlife protection areas comprising the state’s wildlife sanctuaries and two tiger reserves.

Further, the board approved a proposal for setting up of four quick reaction teams to control poaching and to attend to potential human-wildlife conflict situations.

Among the other decisions taken by the board were approving one of the six proposed forest roads to tribal habitations, rejecting five as they sought to provide connectivity to unauthorised tribal settlements. The meeting okayed some optic fibre cable laying proposals, and diversion of a small patch of forest land in Mulugu district for the setting up of a community health centre.