Road comes up in Jim Corbett reserve without Forest Ministry’s go-ahead

More than 150 teak trees have been chopped down and part of the hill has also been cut through, effectively shrinking the area under reserved forests. The construction of the road is going on and about 750 meters stretch has been completed.

When The Indian Express visited the site, nearly two dozen labourers were working on the 20-metre wide road — wide enough for dual-carriage traffic.

The Wildlife and Forest Conservation Act specifies that such construction cannot beundertaken in the reserved forest area without the MEF clearing it. It further specifies that no trees can be felled and the natural habitat of wild animals cannot disturbed in any way.

Sources in the UP Forest Department disclosed that the go-ahead for the road was given in mid-1996 on the insistence of the then Congress MP from Nainital, Narain Dutt Tiwari. Narendra Singh, resident of Amgarhi village said that the road was a necessity and when Tiwari had visited the area before the 1996 Lok Sabha election, he had promised the villagers a proper road to bypass the Banga Jhala.

Banga Jhala is a trickle of a stream which swells up during the monsoons. It is a stretch of less than 200 meters, lying in the middle of the road that runs between Ramnagar and the Patkot Road.

Tiwari, when contacted, said that the road had been a long-standing demand of the villagers. "The villagers boycotted two elections in protest. Then I promised them that the road will be built," he told The Indian Express. Aboutdisturbing the natural wildlife habitat, Tiwari said that development of the area was more important.

G.S.Pandey, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Ramnagar Forest Division, too, said that people from the nearby villages had demanded the road. "The road will help in bypassing the Banga Jhala," he said. When asked why the permission from the MEF was not sought, Pandey said: "Permission is necessary only for any activity undertaken for non-forestry purposes."

But does the villagers’ demand fall into the category of "forestry purposes"? Pandey said: "The road will also help the forest department patrol the area better. That is a forestry purpose."

However, according to the officers of the Corbett Foundation, an organisation working for the preservation of nature, wildlife and forests in the area, the road is completely dispensable. "In a reserved forest, the priority is very clear — preservation of wildlife and forestation. A road in such an area should be allowed only if it is an abject necessity," saidGyan Sarin, an environmentalist attached to the foundation.

Added Anupama Koliyal, a research officer: "Once the road is built, it will encourage human activity in the forest. Buses will pass, shops will come up. Where will it all stop?"

The officers at the Corbett Foundation said that the road was not required even for crossing the Banga Jhala. Though about 25 km longer, a proper road from the Ramnagar barrage to Patkot already exists and buses ply on it.

They added that there is no guarantee that the newly-built road will remain operational during the monsoons. Admitted DFO Pandey: "There is a possibility that this road also may have to be closed during the rains. But then any road can become non-operational."

Pandey said if they got more funds, they would also make supporting walls along the road. These, he said, will reduce the possibility of a landslide blocking the road. The District Administration has already released Rs 5 lakh of the total Rs 15 lakh sanctioned for the road, the DFO said.