Tiger conservation : High Court asks NTcA to step in

Nainital: The Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday pulled up the state government for inadequate efforts towards tiger conservation and asked the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to suggest within three months measures to save their population.

The NTCA may take over the management of Corbett Tiger Reserve, as an interim measure, till the state government becomes alive to its duties and starts taking concrete decisions, a division bench of Acting Chief Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Lokpal Singh said, while hearing a PIL on conservation of tigers and other wildlife.

The court said that the state government has "not shown its keen interest to protect the wildlife, including tigers, elephants, birds and 600 bird species.

"The state government is the protector and not the destroyer of the rights of ordinary citizens. It is better to have no law than laws not enforced," a miffed court said, asking the NTCA to step in to take charge of the management of Corbett Tiger Reserve as an interim measure.

The bench also expressed unhappiness over the delay in constituting a Special Tiger Protection Force as ordered by the court, saying the state government has been only buying time under one pretext or the other.

"We have ordered the state government to constitute a Special Tiger Protection Force. However, we have not been told what concrete steps have been taken to constitute it except buying time from the court on one pretext or the other," the court said.

Observing that tiger population is confined to the forest patches alongside multiple-use forest, agricultural land and human habitations, the high court said it might lead to an increase in human-tiger conflict in future.

In order to protect the tigers and the wildlife, the HC directed NTCA to suggest within three months steps to be taken to conserve and preserve the tiger population in the core areas and buffer zones.
The NTCA may suggest whether few tigers can be relocated, to save them from poaching, to other well-managed national parks.

The NTCA may take over the management of Corbett Tiger Reserve, as an interim measure, till the State Government becomes alive to its duties and starts taking concrete decisions, the court said.

The DFO concerned shall only be the competent authority to grant permission to cut trees if required in the close vicinity of Corbett Tiger Reserve and National Parks, it said.

Relocate rescued elephants

The bench directed the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest to relocate the rescued elephants either to Kalagarh or Dhikala in batches within 3 days from today.

Previously the court had ordered DFO to rescue all the elephants being kept illegally in resorts.

The state government is directed to protect the rescued elephants by implementing the provisions of the Care and Maintenance of Case Property Animals Rules 2017, the court said.

The Additional Chief Secretary to the State of Uttarakhand is directed to file comprehensive status report on the next date of hearing, August 30, 2018 when Additional Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand shall remain present, it said.