The Shinde-Fadnavis government in Maharashtra cancelled the appointments of 13 non-government members made by the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government on the State Board for Wildlife (SBWL). The list the members whose appointments have been cancelled included former environment minister Aaditya Thackeray, former minister of state Dattatraya Bharani, Congress legislator Dheeraj Deshmukh, representative of Eco pro-Institute, Anuj Khare, Vishwas Katdare, Bittu Sehgal, Kishor Rithe, Punam Dhanavate, Kundan Hate, Yadav Tarte-Patil, Suhas Waingankar and Rohidas Dagle.
The MVA government had reconstituted the SBWL in August 2020 and May 2021 with the appointment of non-government members as per section 6 of the Wildlife (Protection)Act 1972. The revenue and forest department has issued the government resolution on the cancellation of appointments of Aaditya and others on the SBWL.
Since the formation of the Shinde-Fadnavis government in Maharashtra, CM Eknath Shinde has become the chairman, while forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar is the vice chairman of the SBWL, which held its maiden meeting on September 21.
The government will soon reconstitute a new board for the SBWL. A total of 16 persons have been identified for their appointments as a member. The state Principal Chief Conservator of Forest has sought biodatas from them so that the formal notification would be issued on the constitution of SBWL.
The list of 16 persons who would be the new members of SBWL includes Anuj Khare (Pune), Hemant Ogale (Sindhudurg), Raman Kulkarni (Kolhapur), Vinit Arora (Nagpur), Punam Dhanavate (Chandrapur), Nitin Desai (Nagpur), Jayant Kulkarni (Pune), Kaustubh Pandhripande (Washim), Rajesh Thmobre (Jalgaon), Abhay Ujagare (Jalgaon), Suhas Waingankar (Kolhapur), Swapnil Sonane (Amaravati), Ankur Patwardhan (Pune), Dhananjay Bapat (Nagpur), Rohidas Dagle (Nagpur) and Chaitra Pawar (Dhule).
SBWL is tasked with taking important conservation-related and policymaking decisions for all 49 wildlife sanctuaries, including six tiger reserves, five national parks, and protected forests in Maharashtra. It also issues clearances for development projects, suggests wildlife mitigation measures, and is the recommending body for notification of new protected areas. The board will be able to exercise powers in line with the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
