GULBARGA: That the Konchavaram Forest, located in Chincholi taluk of Gulbarga district, is a natural wonder may not sound exaggerative. Certain plants and creepers which can be found here collectively cannot be found in any other forest in the state - not even in the Western Ghats of the state.Spread over an area of 147.23 sq km (14758.07 hectares) and covering 28 villages (see box), Konchavaram Forest abuts the Andhra Pradesh Border.The forest contains fairly dense deciduous patch vegetation. A general survey conducted by the forest department revealed that major spices such as Anogeissus Latifolia, Tectona Grandis and Chloroxylon Swietenia are found here - in terms of distribution. About 104 types of plants/creepers, including economically important spices like Boswelia Serrata, Madhuca Indica and Terminalia Tomentosa, are also found here.Konchavaram Forest has an animal kingdom of its own; animals that can be spotted here include mammals such as the black buck, common fox, Indian wolf, jackal, panther, spotted deer, squirrel and wild boar. 35 species of birds that also includes the ashy wren warbler, black drongo, black winged kite, blossom headed parakeet, blue jay, common myna, cattle egret, grey babbler, grey jungle fowl, great horned owl, golden backed wood pecker, Indian robin, jungle babbler, jungle crow, koel, luggar falcon and whistling thrush; nine types of reptiles such as the cobra, viper, krait, python, monitor lizard and tortoise and 4 types of crustaceans and insects - scorpions and crabs to name a few - can be found in Konchavaram Forest.Being rich and lush in vegetation, Konchavaram Forest stands exception to the fact that regions with dry climate characterised by lesser rainfall such as the Gulbarga region cannot have such lush green forests in this area.The forest has an area called ‘Haati Pagadi’ which is used to capture and tame wild elephants (Haati means elephant and the term Pagadi comes from the Hindi word Pakadi which originally means caught). Haati Pagadi has a damaged gate structure and a tunnel to catch the elephants. The Yetti Pota waterfall which is a major tourist attraction can be found in this lush forest here. According to research conducted by experts of Gulbarga University and botanists, the Madhuca Indica spice which is found in abundance in the Konchavaram Forest has anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer and hypoglycemic properties.
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