It’s all hush-hush — UP denotifies land next to Corbett

The land in question falls between Corbett and Sonanadi Sanctuary near Kotdwar. It is considered as one of the last remaining migratory routes for elephants in the state’s greatly disturbed `Terai’ belt.

Brijendra Singh, long associated with Corbett and a senior member of the Union Ministry’s Advisory Committee which has to be consulted for any such major decision, laments that nothing of the sort was done in this case. “They took the decision surreptitiously, behind our back. We feel cheated. Both the UP Government and the Central Government owe an explanation for this gross act of mismanagement which is bound to play havoc with the area’s wildlife and ecology,” he held.

Beside elephants, points out Singh who is also the honorary wildlife warden of Corbett, the area which till now was closed to public also housed tigers and leopards and was teeming with lesser game. “All that will now come under the shadow of a new threat. Meddling with the elephant route is dangerous; it can lead to a heightened man-elephant conflict, a phenomenon we are too familiar with in the nearby Rajaji National Park.” he feared.

Union Environment Ministry, interestingly, has taken a measured but cautious stand on the issue. Additional Inspector General of Forests in the Ministry, S C Sharma, argued that the UP Government had given them a “certificate” to the effect that the denotified land would not be put to any use which might harm the nearby national park or sanctuary. But how far the State would honour the “certificate” — it’s legal validity is already being questioned — or for that matter the extent to which New Delhi would go in case of a possible violation is open to conjecture.

Also, none in the Environment Ministry could explain the reason for not involving either the Corbett authorities or the Advisory Committee members in such a crucial move.

According to Sharma, the UP Government intends to build a road (connecting Kotdwar with Ramnagar) through this patch of forest land. “We gave the go-ahead after due deliberation,” he added.

But even this argument has not gone down well with the wildlife experts. They point out how more than seven leopards have already fallen prey to 25 kilometre of stretch between Ramnagar and Mohan after it was reconstructed as a “high-speed” road. This, according to some Corbett officials, was done by the State Government mainly for the benefit of a number of affluent resorts which have come up in the vicinity of National Park and cater mainly to patrons with deep pockets and a penchant for high-speed cars.

An official of the Corbett, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they would definitely have opposed the denotification of this important patch “if only we knew about the goings-on in the first place.”