GENERAL

FORESTS

[The note on forests in Sangli district has been prepared on the basis of the material supplied by the Chief Conservator of Forests, Maharashtra State, Poona.]

Sangli forests belong to four groups, viz., evergreen forests on the Sahyadri hills, wet and dry deciduous forests on the slopes of the hills that run east and form the catchment area of the Varna river, forests with bushy and stunted tree growth on the hills to the east of the Krishna and grassy area with sparse tree growth in Jath.

Sahyadri ghats and their slopes in the extreme west of the Sangli district are subject to heavy precipitation of rain and frost in this area. The forest is of evergreen type, consisting of stunted growth of Eugenia jambulana (jambhul), Actino-daphne hookeri (Pisa), Glochidion lanceolarium (Bhoma), Memecylonedule (Anjani), Terminalia chebula (Hirda), Flacourtia sopiaria (Tambat), etc. This type of forest is found in the extreme west of Sangli district on the crest of the Sahyadri in the villages extending from Chandoli Kh. in the north to Bhogir in the south adjoining the Kolhapur district. They form compact forests and are not much broken by tillage and are found in Rundir, Sidheshwar, Bhogir villages in the extreme west of Shirala mahal.

Forests on narrow steep hills on both sides of the Varna river in the extreme west in Shirala mahal gradually merge from evergreen zone to wet mixed deciduous forests where teak is almost absent. This forest area has precipitation of rain between 1,524 mm (60") and 2,540 mm (100"). On both sides of the Varna river the hills rise steeply leaving little room for tillage. On the hill slopes the vegetation is dense and in the valley where washing of the hill slopes is deposited, the tree growth is luxuriant forming high forest chiefly of Eugenia jambulana (Jambhul), Memeoylonedule (Anjani), Actino-daphne hookeri (Pisa), Artocarpus integrifolia (Phanas), Terminalia chebula (Hirda), Ficus religiose (Vad), Mangifera indica (Amba), Lagerstromia lanceolata (Nana), Sideroxylon tomentosum (Kumbhal), Ficus glumerita (Payer), Samalia malabaricum (Sawar), Dellenia pentagyne (Karambal), Gerwia tiliaefolia (Dhaman), Ranwolfia densiflora (Hadkaya), Olea dioica (Para-jambul), Terminalia balerica (Beheda). The growth of Ain is gregarious on the lower slopes of the hill.

Forests on hill slopes about 32 km (20 miles) from the rise of the Varna river covering central and eastern parts of Shirala mahal and eastern part of Walwa taluka merge from wet mixed deciduous forests to the dry mixed deciduous type of forests with larger proportion of teak and its associates, viz., Anogeissus latifolia (Dhavda), Terminalia tomentosa (Ain), Butea frondosa (Palas), Schleichtra trijuga (Kusum), Grewia tiliaefalia (Dhaman), Cassia fistula (Bhava), Eleodendron glaucum (Bhutkes), Albizzia lebbek (Shiras), Ziziphus zylopyra (Ghatbor).

Forests in Tasgaon and Khanapur talukas which form the central portion of the district, are scrub forests with bare and bush sprinkled hills to the east of the Krishna.

In the east, forests in Atpadi mahal are mostly barren with scattered stunted and bushy growth of a few tree species such as Acacia aburnea (Murmati), Acacia arabica (Babul), Ziziphus jujuba (Bor). However in this area there are also a few matured scattered trees of Azadirachta indica (Neem), Eugenia jambulana (Jambhul), Tamarindus indica (Chinch), Pongamia glabra (Karanj).

In the extreme east in Jath, the forest area grows only Khair and Tarwad. Scattered tree growth exists in eight villages viz., Birnal, Belunkhi, Kholeshwar, Jirgyal, Sonkh, Waleshkhindi. Vashan and Khatali. Other areas in Jath taluka are rocky and murmad and grow only inferior type of grass.

The forest area in Sangli district under Satara Forest Division is as under: —

The per capita distribution of forests and percentage under forests as compared with the State average is as given below: —

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