Current Affairs

'Tree surgery' to save over 500 girdled trees in Chhattisgarh's Udanti–Sitanadi Tiger Reserve

21-10-2026 · English

'Tree surgery' to save over 500 girdled trees in Chhattisgarh's Udanti–Sitanadi Tiger Reserve

Topics: Environment · 21 October 2026 Current Affairs (UPSC / TNPSC / SSC / RRB)

News

In the Karka village area of Chhattisgarh's Udanti–Sitanadi Tiger Reserve (USTR), the Forest Department is launching 'tree surgery' to save over 500 trees damaged by girdling (removal of a ring of bark) by encroachers (reports of 18–21 Oct 2026). A DGPS drone survey (22 Sep – 10 Oct) found about 2,500 girdled trees (sal, bija, tendu). The main method is 'bridge grafting'. 'Tree Doctor' Vijay Nishanth (Project Vruksha Foundation) will visit to assess the trees and train staff. Note: this is not road widening; it is damage from encroachment inside the reserve.

Key facts

PlaceKarka, Udanti–Sitanadi Tiger Reserve – Gariaband & Dhamtari districts, Chhattisgarh
Damage500+ trees freshly girdled; about 2,500 in all; encroachment 22 ha (2016) → 102.47 ha (2026)
SpeciesSal, bija, tendu
MethodBridge grafting – a healthy twig joined across the wound to restore food flow; at present cow-dung–soil paste wrapped in gunny
PeopleVarun Kumar Jain – USTR Deputy Director; Vijay Nishanth – 'Tree Doctor'
Earlier tryBridge grafting in 2022 – only about 10% success

Background

  • Reserve: formed by merging Udanti and Sitanadi wildlife sanctuaries, notified as a tiger reserve in 2009; area 1,842.54 sq km (core 851.09). It is a key habitat of the endangered Asiatic wild buffalo – Chhattisgarh's State animal. Other Chhattisgarh tiger reserves include Indravati (Bijapur) and Achanakmar.
  • Science: girdling cuts the phloem just beneath the bark; food made in the leaves can no longer reach the roots, so the roots starve and the tree slowly dies. The xylem carries water upward.
  • Geography: the Pairi river rises in Udanti sanctuary and the Sondur in Sitanadi; they meet the Mahanadi near Rajim (Gariaband). The Mahanadi rises in the Sihawa hills of Dhamtari district. Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh on 1 Nov 2000.
  • Tree-protection movements: Chipko (1973, Uttarakhand – Gaura Devi, Sunderlal Bahuguna); Appiko (1983, Karnataka – Uttara Kannada, Panduranga Hegde) – the 'Chipko of the South'.

Tamil Nadu link: Tamil Nadu's State tree is the palmyra palm (Borassus flabellifer). Tree felling in hill areas is regulated by the Tamil Nadu Hill Areas (Preservation of Trees) Act, 1955.

Source: Free Press Journal, State Mirror, 21 Oct 2026; Deccan Chronicle, 18 Oct 2026; WII (tiger reserve profile); Drishti IAS

Join our UPSC classroom or online batch: UPSC coaching in Coimbatore · Fees · Call 99941 46662.

Get daily current affairs & exam alerts – follow us YouTube WhatsApp Channel Telegram Channel Facebook Page Instagram
Share with friends & study groups
Link to this page from your website / blog (HTML code)
More news from the same day
› How are rain warnings issued? – IMD rainfall categories and colour-coded warnings explained › Nationwide 'Green Diwali' campaign, 20 Oct – 8 Nov – launched by WWF-India's EIACP centre; appeal to avoid firecrackers › Ipsos Quality of Care Perception Index 2026 – India 3rd among 32 countries (joint with Singapore); Malaysia tops › Delhi CM Rekha Gupta opens 200-tonne-per-day cow-dung biogas plant at Goyla Dairy (19 Oct) › Vummidi Ethiraj (99), who crafted the Sengol given to Nehru in 1947 and installed in the new Parliament in 2023, passes away › Nationwide financial inclusion saturation campaign from 21 Oct to 31 Dec – 2.70 lakh gram panchayats and urban local bodies › European bee-eater recorded in Chennai for the first time – near the Adyar estuary › Centre's draft for Ladakh: a directly elected body, with the Lieutenant Governor keeping the final say on laws All current affairs →

TNPSC Achievers

  • GNANAVEL

    TNPSC TNPSC