MEL

GHATT
IGERRESERVE.
MelghatT igerRes erveisl
ocat edons outhernoffs hootoft heS atpur
aHi l
lRangeinCent r
al I
ndi
a,called
Gavilgarhhi l
li
nt heIndianstateofMahar ashtr
a.T hehighr i
dger unni
ngeas t
-westwhichhasi t
shighest
pointatVai rat(1178m.abovems l
.)
,formsthes out hwesternboundar yoft heRes er
ve.Iti
sapr i
me
habitatoft het i
ger.Theforestistr
opicaldrydeci duousi nnat ure,dominatedbyt eakT ectonagrandi s
.
TheRes er
vei sacat chmentar eaf orfi
vemaj orriversvi
z.Khandu,Khapr a,Sipna,GadgaandDol ar,al
l
ofwhi char etri
butar i
esofther i
verTapti
.Thenor theas t
ernboundar yoftheRes erveismar kedbyt he
Taptiri
ver.Mel ghatisthepr i
mebi odiversi
tyr
epos i
toryofthes tate.

ThesuddenslopeofMel
ghatfor
mt hepartofcatchmentofri
verPurna.
Thethr
eemaj ort
ri
but
ari
esor
igi
nati
ngfrom Mel
ghatr egi
onanddr ai
ningi
ntori
verPur
naar
e
Chandrabhaga,adnaniandwan.Chikhal
daraislocatedonhighsuddenplatauatanal
ti
tudeof1100ms
.
aboveMS L.

Naturehasof f
eredpr otecti
ont oMel ghati nthef orm ofar uggedt opogr aphywi thonlyaf ew entrypoints
.
TheMakhal a,Chikhaldara,Chi l
adar i
,Pat ul
daandGugamal aret hel argepl ateauxami dstruggedt er
rai
n.
Cont i
guit
yoff orestsi
nS atpuraHi l
lRangeguar anteesthel ong- t
erm cons ervat i
onpot enti
al ofthear ea.
Cons er
vat i
onHi s
tory:Mel ghatar eawasdecl aredaT i
gerRes er vein1974.Pr esentl
y,thet otalareaoft he
Reserveisar ound1677s q.km.T hecor ear eaoft heRes erve,t heGugar nal NationalParkwi thanar eaof
361.28sq.km. ,andbuf ferareaoft heRes erve,theMel ghatT i
gerS anct uar ywi t
hanar eaof788. 28s q.km.
(ofwhich21. 39sq.km.i snon-forest)
,wer et ogetherr e-
notifi
edbyt hes t
ategover nmenti n1994asMel ghat
Sanctuary.Ther emai ni
ngar eai smanagedasa‘ multi
pleus ear ea’ .Previously,MelghatT igerSanct uary
wascr eatedi n1985wi thanar eaof1597. 23s q.km.Gugar nal Nat i
onal Par kwascar vedoutoft hi
s
Sanctuaryin1987.
Archaeologi calRichness:TheGavi l
gar hfortont heChi khal darapl ateauandNar nalafortabet t
ing
southeasternpar tofMel ghatTigerRes erveaddt ot heaes thet i
cval ueoft hear ea.Visi
torstothes e
archaeologi calmonument senjoyt hes erenef orest
sinthebackdr op.

How t
oReachMel ghatTi
gerPr oject
Melghatisappr oachablebyRoad,Rai landAir(neares
tai
rport-Nagpur
).Semadohisthemaincent
re
f
rom touri
stpointofview.Kolkaseco-touris
m compl exi
ssi
tuatedNarnal
aS anct
uary(
bas ecamp–
ShahnurinAkotdi s
tri
ct)i
sanot hertour
is
tcentreoftheMelghatT i
gerRes
ervewhereyoucanenjoy
Jungl
eS afari
aswel lasvis
itafortres
sbuil
tprobably600years.

Hari
sal
isadi
git
alvi
l
lagel
ocat
ed25kmsf
rom S
emadoht
owar
dsI
ndor
eonMahar
asht
raS
tat
eHi
ghwayno.
6.

Chi
khaldar
aisahi
l
lst
ati
onandaf amoustour
is
tpl
acei
nVi
dar
bhar
egi
onofMahar
asht
raandanot
her
i
mportantgat
ewaytoMelghatT
igerRes
erve.