Avarice!
THE proposed Rajaji National Park is hemmed in by the towns of Haridwar and Dehradun. These urban centres, beside being instrumental in the increasing demand for timber, are also encroaching into the national park area. Inside the park there is an army ammunition dump, the resettlement colony of the Tehri dam oustees, and the Chilla canal. All these have blocked the traditional migratory routes of the elephants within Rajaji as well as between Rajaji and Corbett National Park. The Van Gujjars are, therefore, right when they insist that it is not they who are damaging the park, as the authorities allege.
Bhitarkanika Sanctuary in the mangrove regions of Orissa, famous for the world's largest congregation of the highly endangered Olive Ridley turtles, is facing an imminent onslaught by commercial fishing. On the cards is the construction of a jetty, an ice factory, store house and staff quarters inside the sanctuary. Between 1985 and 1993, 18 sq km of forest land have been cleared, several forest blocks encroached, mostly by immigrants in the region, and approximately, 15,000 acres of forest land has been lost to aquaculture. As a result of these activities, a number of creeks and channels in the area have been blocked.
In the Melghat Tiger Reserve, which enjoys the status of a sanctuary, there is a proposal to denotify 500 sq km*** of the reserve, which is about 1/3rd of the total area. According to the forest department authorities, the step is proposed for the better management of the sanctuary. The Bombay Environmental Action Group, petitioning the Nagpur High Court against the move, claims that the principal reason for the denotification is to exploit the region for commercial purposes, which is not possible till the area is upgraded into a sanctuary. They allege that felling and forestry operations are in the offing.