Opinion Kaziranga alert

First,and most unfortunate,the increasing disconnect between the park management and the social milieu that surrounds the park has now become noticeable. Kaziranga is circled by an agrarian landscape,intensely cultivated for paddy. This means permanent human settlement around the park. However,the flow of visitors to the park,and the increasing international presence in the tourism sector,have emboldened the park management. Politically powerful groups with stakes in the park have successfully appropriated the new economic opportunities created by the swelling crowd of tourists. Most beneficiaries are alien to the local milieu. This has greatly eroded social support for the park. With peasants and small traders having lost out on the economic gains,it increasingly faces a crisis of legitimacy.

Local people have also complained that the unregulated flow of tourists has disrupted the natural tranquility of the reserve,but the political economy of the park has no space for such considerations. The entry of outside economic interests has also resulted in a broad nexus among various interest groups. There are frequent reports alleging that local politicians are party to this nexus,one which has helped in the growth of industries based on mining and quarrying. The ecological costs of such industries are considerable.

Second,this year’s floods have brought the problem of poaching back into the news. Poachers now adopt sophisticated weapons as well as traditional methods to kill rhinos and remove their horns. There are regular reports in Assamese newspapers on links between smaller terrorist groups and poachers. The former facilitate poaching and take the horns into the transnational supply networks. The rhinos’ attempt to escape the floods in the ravaged grasslands and take shelter in the southern hills of Karbi Anglong,where they fell prey to poachers,should be an eye-opener. Decades of political instability in the state,the presence of terrorist groups and the lack of social support for the park in the southern hills helped the poachers immensely.

Third,an understanding of Kaziranga National Park will be incomplete without an understanding of the annual flood cycle and the changing course of the Brahmaputra,which also enriches the surrounding grasslands. The park is home not only to the one-horned rhinoceros but also to several other species of large and small animals that thrive on the grasslands. Effective management of the park must be based on a knowledge of this very dynamic eco-system. This hardly gets priority in public debates and official formulations. The ability of the Brahmaputra to strike at vulnerable areas is yet to be the central theme of the park management. The core conservation programme in Kaziranga is predominantly shaped by short-term measures.

The southern Karbi hills could be critical to the future of the park. They facilitated long-distance movement of the large animals and provided an alternative habitat for them. Scientists have long advised the inclusion of the hills within the limits of the park. This is difficult,given the social and political complexities of these hills. It is important that a political consensus is created speedily.

The writer is an environmental historian at the Indian Institute of Technology,Guwahati

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