Fri. Jan 3rd, 2025 4:10:56 PM

[ad_1]

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday told the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) that its plan to have a tiger safari on the lines of a zoo within a national park, as envisaged at the Jim Corbett national park, cannot be permitted as the approach has to be “animal-centric” and not “tourism-centric”.

Cannot permit zoo in a national park: SC on proposed tiger safari at Corbett
Cannot permit zoo in a national park: SC on proposed tiger safari at Corbett

A bench headed by justice BR Gavai said, “We will not permit animals in the zoo to be kept (in cages) at national parks,” while commenting on the 2019 NTCA guidelines to establish tiger safari in buffer and fringe areas of tiger reserves. The guidelines provided for establishing tiger safari in buffer and fringe areas of tiger reserves to reduce pressure of tourism from core or critical tiger habitat.

Wrap up the year gone by & gear up for 2024 with HT! Click here

The issue came to Court after a petition filed by environment activist and lawyer Gaurav Bansal challenged the Uttarakhand government’s proposal to have a tiger safari, meant as a specialised zoo with caged animals, at the Jim Corbett national park. The Court appointed advocate K Parmeshwar as amicus curiae to understand if such a facility could be introduced within a national park or sanctuary.

The bench, also comprising justices PK Mishra and Sandeep Mehta said, “The purpose should not be entertainment. Your (NTCA) approach has to be animal-centric and not tourism-centric,” as it questioned NTCA for changing the regime in 2019 while its earlier guidelines of 2016 did not provide for safari. The Court will continue hearing the matter on Friday.

Additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati appearing for the NTCA told the Court that the idea of tourism is not opposed to conservation as there are tiger safaris located at buffer or fringe areas of national parks in the country. She pointed out that the 2019 guidelines sought to create an “exalted zoo” as there are 20 such zoos existing in the country, citing the example of Bannerghatta biological park in Bengaluru.

The bench remarked, “If you want to have a zoo, have it in the Lutyens Zone in the Capital but why have it in Corbett national park. Don’t have zoos in these locations. Such facilities may fall in the tiger or elephant corridor, hindering free movement of animals in the wild. It may even cause diseases to other animals.”

The Court said, “Your 2019 guideline has to go. How do you equate zoo with safari.” The judges shared experiences during their visits to some of the sanctuaries and national parks where they were told that tigers in the wild rub their nails against trees considered to have antibiotic value. “Animals in the zoo won’t know that,” the judges commented, while further observing how wild animals collect salt from rocks.

“You can’t create a facility in a sanctuary for animals born in a zoo. We appreciate if you want to have a relief and rehabilitation centre within the national park for keeping injured or old wild animals and later releasing them into wild,” the bench said.

Also Read: ‘Shocking’: SC on absence of tiger conservation plan for Rajaji tiger reserve

The Court further questioned NTCA on why as per the original plan, the tiger safari was proposed for Kanvashram but later moved to the present proposed site at Pakhrau. Bhati said, “That is for the state government to answer,” as she submitted to the Court, “We are open to any suggestion from the Court on improving the guidelines.”

For the Uttarakhand government, senior advocate ANS Nadkarni said that the plan for a tiger safari at Corbett was throughout the plan of NTCA and not the state. He said that the site for the safari had to be shifted from Kanvashram as it was a reserved forest area having no buffer zone. Pakhrau was chosen due to its location right on the border of Corbett.

He said, “The tiger safari was not started at the instance of the state government. We were told by NTCA to submit a proposal which we did in the year 2014. It was virtually a direction given to us.”

The Court had on Wednesday pulled up the state government for not having a tiger conservation plan, as required under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, for the Rajaji national park.

Nadkarni informed the Court that a tiger conservation plan (TCP) takes three to four years to be finalised after declaration of a tiger reserve. The senior counsel said that Rajaji was declared tiger reserve in 2015 following which a draft TCP had been prepared, and the state was consulting over it. This was delayed due to the Covid pandemic, he added.

Corbett already has a TCP in place since 2015 that is valid for 10 years. As the 2025 deadline is approaching, Nadkarni said that the government has initiated steps to bring out a new plan. As regards management plan for national parks, the state government submitted that this requirement was introduced under Section 33 of the 1972 Act in the year 2022. This provision was notified on April 1, 2023. Even prior to this, he added, the state government had a practical management plan for national parks and sanctuaries.

Earlier in the day, amicus Parmeshwar informed the Court that having tiger safari destroys the integrity of a tiger reserve. He said, “This Court must lay down principles of integrity of tiger reserve. The tiger corridor connecting several national parks preserves the integrity of tiger reserves. You cannot have a specialised zoo constructed blocking the corridor. Tiger is at the apex in the predator chain. This has a cascading effect on the ecosystem.”

He further stated that the concept of zoo was always meant to be in non-forest area and said, “The question to be asked is what conservation method will a safari facilitate. It is for viability of tourism and not tigers.”

The bench observed, “It is an important issue as tiger is at the epicentre of the ecosystem.” As per the latest Tiger Census figures prepared in April last year, India is home to 75% of the world’s tiger population, boasting of a tiger population of 3,167. Uttarakhand has 560 tigers with 260 in Corbett tiger reserve spread across 1,288 square kilometres.

In an affidavit filed by the Uttarakhand government in this matter, the tiger safari planned at Pakhrau is on a land measuring 106 hectares. This area constituted 0.082% of the total area at Corbett and 0.22% of the buffer area of the tiger reserve.

[ad_2]

Source link