Restoring forest corridors

IN a unique case, the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) successfully moved the Judiciary for returning forest land to the Corbett National Park. The land was temporarily given 38 years ago to the Uttar Pradesh irrigation department for construction of the Kalaghar dam on the Ramganga.

When the forest land was transferred, the provision was that when the dam was completed, the land area used for infrastructure would be handed back to the Corbett National Park authorities. The transfer of 8,390.69 hectares took place in 1961. The Kalaghar dam was completed in 1970 but to date the 802.3 hectares of forest land, downstream of the dam, where a residential colony came up, has not been handed back to the forest department.

In fact, the original structures of the colony were kutcha or built of mud so that they could be demolished easily when the land had to be restored to the Corbett Park. But for 19 years after the dam was completed, the Irrigation Department clung to the land and even leased it out to traders and businessmen for quick money. Every 15 days a new shop was coming up, says Mr. Ashok Kumar of the WPSI.

Repeated requests of the Forest Department to return the land went unheeded. Rajiv Gandhi who loved nature reserves and wildlife, visited Kalaghar and saw the encroachments. As Prime Minister, he then wrote to the U.P. Chief Minister, Veer Bahadur, to have the encroachments removed and return the land to Corbett National Park. Even his request went unheeded.

As more encroachments came up on those precious 800 odd hectares of forest land and wild elephants found their migratory route blocked, the WPSI decided to take up the issue with a public interest litigation at the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court. Investigations by the WPSI showed there was elephant dung up to the colony. In fact there is a five km area next to the spillway that could serve as a corridor to the Kalaghar Forest Division if there were no shops and houses.

Apart from poaching for ivory, a major problem for elephants is the blockage of their migratory routes by construction of dams and other structures. This has turned them into violent creatures - destroying crops and trampling people to death.

Last July, the WPSI moved the courts. The Irrigation Department, by continuing to hold on to the forest land after completion of the dam, was violating the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and the December 12, 1996 interim order of the Supreme Court which states that non-forestry activities should not take place on forest land.

The judges had pointed out in July that the "State government failed to settle the dispute between its two departments. It is surprising that the State government has filed a counter affidavit, admitting the controversy, yet taking no steps to settle the dispute. Had the Government had acted, there would not have been any need for an NGO to go to court, the judges said.

Asking the State to ensure that no more encroachments took place or land sold to third parties, the Court asked the Irrigation Secretary and the Forest Secretary to be present in the court for the next hearing. At this second meeting in August, both said they would work out the area which had to be returned to the forest department, keeping only land required for running of the dam establishment within the forests. This, the Irrigation Secretary assured, would be done by November 15, 1999.

However, providing for delays, the Court gave time till December 15. On January 15 this year, the two departments had to report to the Court.

Some of the land has since been handed to the Forest Department, but encroachments have not been removed. In fact, encroachers have been agitating for continuing on forest land. Less than 10,000 people may have to move out. But encroachers are fighters and so the battle continues in the U.P. forest tracts. The silver lining is that no further encroachments are taking place in this forest segment.

Encroachments on forest land are a major problem for many parks and sanctuaries. Often, the encroachments are by another department of the same government or the encroachers have the backing of politicians. In the case of the Corbett Park, it is the WPSI that is fighting for restoration of forest land. In Maharashtra, the Bombay Environment Action Group has successfully moved the court for moving some thousands of people encroaching on the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivli. Only those who were living in the Park area prior to the notification of the Park have been allowed to stay on.

In Kaziranga National Park, Assam, the biggest home of the one horned rhino, Bangladeshi refugees have an extended area of the park.

A State Minister stopped the clearance of the encroachments and now the Park authorities have gone to court for removal of encroachments. But not many have the courage of B. S. Bonal, the Kaziranga Park Director, for fighting poachers and other encroachers.

In the Melghat Tiger Reserve of Maharashtra too, the Irrigation Department has created problems like those in Corbett, U.P.. As population increases, ensuring the inviolability of the protected areas will be an uphill task. So the recovery of even a few hectares of forest land in U.P. is cause for celebration. But the challenge will be in re-greening the area and restoring forest corridors so that the elephants can move freely again.

USHA RAI

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