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Hindustan Times
30-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
SC reserves order on expert panel suggestions for improving tiger sanctuaries
The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved orders on a wide-ranging spectrum of recommendations suggested by an expert committee for improving management of tiger reserves across India. The court expressed reservation on accepting one proposal on phasing out night stay facilities for tourists in core area of tiger reserves. The committee's report submitted to the court on May 22 came on an order passed by SC in March 2024 while hearing the case pertaining to Pakhru tiger safari at Jim Corbett tiger reserve in Uttarakhand. While seeing a regulatory mechanism for tiger safari, the court had in its order required the Centre to form a committee of experts and make recommendations on measures that are required to be taken for effective management and protection of tiger reserves which shall be applicable on a Pan India basis. Also Read: Ban night tourism, limit safaris: SC panel on tiger reserve mgmt The committee suggestions included promoting eco-tourism in tiger reserves, securing tiger habitat, improving service conditions of forest staff, strengthening wildlife crime detection and trial, and better management of man-animal conflicts among other related aspects. The committee comprised of Chandra Prakash Goyal, Member CEC, Vaibhav C. Mathur, Deputy Inspector General of Forests, NTCA, Qamar Qureshi, Scientist G, WII, Dehradun, and R. Raghu Prasad, Inspector General of Forests, Wildlife as Member Secretary. It referred to an elaborate set of guidelines prepared by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in 2012 that received the imprimatur of the Supreme Court in Ajay Dubey v NTCA, decided in October 2012. The guidelines proposed phasing out of night stay facility for tourists inside the core area of tiger reserves. The committee said, 'Night stay facilities for tourists in core areas must be completely phased out within the next six months as more than a decade has already elapsed since this was recommended in the NTCA guidelines. In order not to disrupt the circadian rhythm of wildlife, a complete ban on night tourism must be implemented in tiger reserves.' The bench, also comprising Justice AG Masih, said, 'This facility in a way helps in getting people to come closer to nature. It helps in growing awareness and love for nature and wildlife among citizens.' Senior advocate K Parmeshwar assisting the court as amicus curiae pointed out that so long as the lodges and government bungalows are allowed to operate, the core area cannot remain inviolable.' The bench said, 'Even if people stay there, nobody is allowed to move out after a specific time, including VVIPs, except forest officers.' It further reasoned that by letting out such facilities to tourists, the money earned in this manner can be utilised towards conservation of wildlife. The Centre represented by additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati informed the court that the ministry of environment forests and climate change (MoEFCC) have no objections to any of the recommendations made by the committee and are willing to accept the same. Parmeshwar highlighted other areas of concern from the report which failed to address the issue of preparation of a Tiger Conservation Plan (TCP) as per Section 38V of the Wildlife Protection Act. He said, 'Out of 58 tiger reserves in the country, only 23 have it. It is absolutely necessary to have TCP. This is happening despite the 2012 Ajay Dubey judgment.' The bench asked the amicus to submit a note of suggestions and said, 'We will fix an outer limit for coming out with TCP, maybe in six months or one year.'
Hindustan Times
28-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Ban night tourism, limit safaris: SC panel on tiger reserve mgmt
New Delhi An expert committee tasked by the Supreme Court to recommend steps for better management of tiger reserves in the country has proposed a complete ban on night tourism, recommended that the core and buffer zone be declared silent zones, and suggested providing arms and legal protection to forest officials, as part of a comprehensive overhaul in the management of these protected areas. The report of the four-member committee, having experts drawn from National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) and the MOEFCC was submitted to the court last week. The committee also dealt with the issue of tiger safaris and said that remedying the illegal construction and felling of trees for the Pakhro tiger safari at Jim Corbett National Park would involve a restoration cost of nearly ₹30 crore. HT has reviewed a copy of the report. The court on March 6, 2024 took serious note of the destruction caused to the environment due to the Pakhro safari, passing simultaneous directions to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to identify the officers responsible and asking the Union government to form a committee to propose the cost to be paid by the guilty officers, besides suggesting long term reforms for strengthening the ecosystem in tiger reserves. The Supreme Court had banned the tiger safari after it was found that the Uttarakhand forest department had felled trees in the Pakhro range for constructing a tiger rescue centre, which was to also function as a safari for vehicles and pedestrian movement, without seeking mandatory environment ministry's approval. The court had also said that the proposed safari was in violation of Guidelines for Safari Parks. Proposing that such tiger safaris only be established on 'non-forest land' or a 'degraded forest land in buffer zone that is not part of a tiger corridor' , the experts went by the court's suggestion to adopt an approach of 'ecocentrism' and not of 'anthropocentrism' (human-centric) and said: 'In order not to disrupt the circadian rhythm of wildlife, a complete ban on night tourism must be implemented in tiger reserves.' The committee's members are Chandra Prakash Goyal, Member CEC, Vaibhav C. Mathur, Deputy Inspector General of Forests, NTCA, Qamar Qureshi, Scientist G, WII, Dehradun, and R. Raghu Prasad, Inspector General of Forests, Wildlife as Member Secretary. The committee further proposed the entire area of tiger reserve and the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of protected areas that are part of it to be notified as 'silent zones' under Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000. In addition, it proposed that NTCA guidelines that recommended phasing out of night stay facilities for tourists in core areas of the reserve be enforced strictly and implemented in six months. It also proposed a ban on the use of mobile phones within tourism zones of the core habitat of tiger reserves. Dealing with the Pakhro tiger safari, the committee estimated the potential ecological loss due to safari project to be about Rs.29.8 crores. The amount , collected (from the guilty officials) should be put in a separate account to be maintained by Field Director, Corbett Tiger Reserve who will ensure activities for the upkeep of the tiger safari. The top court in March last year had allowed the safari to continue on the condition that only injured, rescued or orphaned cubs in the wild are to be kept there while rejecting the proposal to introduce zoo animals sourced from outside. The committee supported the court's judgment . The committee also focused on people it called 'invisible green soldiers' or forest personnel who guard the forests, protect wildlife, and face life-threatening situations from the timber mafia and poachers. 'Ensuring their welfare is crucial for protecting the environment and sustaining ecological balance,' the committee said in its report. It added that this required states to ensure vacancies in all levels in tiger reserves are filled up on priority, with a separate cadre for veterinarians and wildlife biologists, along with one for sociologists to engage with the fringe communities on an ongoing basis, that will help build a 'social fence' in protection of forests. Noting serious gaps in the absence of legal protection to forest staff against organised criminal elements, the report said, 'At least 75% of such staff shall be provided with arms within a period of five years. States may also raise special forest battalions to be deployed in Tiger Reserves under the operational command of forest officers, as done in some states.' It suggested that provisions of Section 218 of Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 (that requires prior sanction to prosecute government servants) be applied to all forest officers and in the unfortunate event of death in the line of duty, 'ex-gratia on par with paramilitary forces should be provided.' A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai is expected to consider the report with its suggestions later this week. The court's March 2024 order came on a petition filed by environment activist and lawyer Gaurav Kumar Bansal . The Pakhro project measuring 106 hectares was approved by NTCA in 2015, the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) in 2019 and forest clearances from the Union environment ministry in October 2020 and September 2021.
