Bihar’s only tiger reserve — Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) — is using green energy to provide adequate water to wild animals, including tigers and their prey, during the hot summer season.

This will mitigate scarcity of water for wild animals in VTR. Consequently, they will not stray into human habitations in search of water during summer, official said.

The protected area (PA) has installed solar-powered pumps for providing water regularly to tigers and other wildlife. These have been installed at four places as of now. The plan is to instal more by next year, VTR Field Director Nesamani K told this reporter.

The use of solar-powered pumps is cost-effective and eco-friendly.

“This year, we have installed solar-powered pumps for water for the first time. If this experiment succeeds in summer, we will instal more in VTR,” the field director said.

Water tankers were earlier used to fill waterholes for wild animals in VTR. But it was a costly and time- consuming process.

According to Nesamani, solar-powered pumps will strengthen tiger conservation.

“During summer, water bodies and several rivers passing through VTR usually run dry. This forces tigers and other wildlife to stray into neighbouring human settlements in search of water,” he said.

This can lead to human-wildlife conflict. “But this will soon become a thing of the past,” Nesamani said.

Read Bihar: Reduced human activity, including mining bans, helped increase tiger numbers in Valmiki reserve

Waterholes in VTR’s grasslands are a lifeline for all wildlife.

VTR officials said there are 40 waterholes — including natural as well as artificial — in the reserve. All waterholes are situated in or near grasslands, which play an important role in supporting the prey population, in turn increasing the chances of the carnivores’ survival.

Officials pointed out that Bihar has been witnessing scorching summers and long heat spells since the last few years. VTR, which is located in the Terai in Bihar’s West Champaran district, recorded over 42-43 degrees Celsius last year during summer.

As per official data, tiger numbers in the PA rose to 54 last year, up from 31 in 2018. In 2014, there were only 28 tigers in VTR.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had officially announced the increase in VTR’s tiger population in July. The reserve has witnessed a 75 per cent increase in tiger numbers, something that was praised by NTCA. The organisation placed the reserve in the ‘Very Good’ category.

VTR is spread over 899 square kilometres (89,900 ha) in the Valmiki Wildlife Sanctuary. It is bordered by Nepal to its north and Uttar Pradesh to its west.

The Bihar government is waiting to obtain NTCA approval for declaring Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary in Kaimur district as the state’s second tiger reserve after VTR.