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PIL halts road works in Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary
In spite of environmentalists warning the authorities to stop the construction of a road right in the middle of the Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS), the Krishna district administration went ahead with a 2.5 km road in violation of Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Hyderabad: In spite of environmentalists warning the authorities to stop the construction of a road right in the middle of the Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS), the Krishna district administration went ahead with a 2.5 km road in violation of Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Work on the illegal road and electric line started in the wildlife sanctuary from Palakayatippa to Hamsaldeevi in May for the Krishna Pushkaralu. Based on the PIL filed by conservationist Imran Siddiqui of Hyderabad Tiger Conservation Society (HyTiCoS), Chief Justice Dilip Bhosale and Justice P Naveen Rao observed that work was to be stopped and asked the district collector to be present for the next hearing which is on Wednesday.
- HC directs the Krishna district administration to stop the 2.5 km road work since it violates Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
- The sanctuary is home to several endangered species including the fishing cat and Indian Otter and human intervention can be harmful
Imran Siddiqui says, “Repeated requests from conservationists and also from the district forest officer were ignored. There are similar roads being laid in wildlife sanctuaries such as Kolleru, Pulicat and undlabrameshwaram.”
In situations where roads are to be constructed inside the sanctuaries, permission is to be given on application to user agency by the Supreme Court on recommendations of State Wildlife Advisory Board and National Wildlife Advisory Board which is to be seconded by the chief wildlife warden.
In response to the defense lawyer’s argument that the road was originally a cart track, the Chief Justice asked why the procedure laid out by the Supreme Court was not followed and remarked: “That is how you are spoiling wildlife and its habitat.”
Environmentalists say that due to the construction of the road the salt water from the sea gets trapped in the mangrove forest and would gradually destroy the fragile mangroves and affect the ecosystem.
Ramesh KK, an environmentalist says, “It is not just the mangroves but the human-animal conflict would increase not only destroying the flora and fauna. Also the increase of salinity may be harmful for several animal and plant species.”
