If state government can’t protect Corbett tigers, shall we ask the Army?: Uttarakhand HC

NAINITAL: Uttarakhand high court on Thursday taking a strict stand on death of tigers in the state warned the state government that ”if no categorical assurance for the deployment of Special Tiger Protection Force in Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) is given, we may be constrained to request the ministry of defence to deploy the Eco Task Force to protect tigers.”

Delivering a rap to the state government for not deploying the Special Tiger Protection Force even though it was constituted on May 13, 2014, a division bench comprising of justices Rajiv Sharma and Lok Pal Singh said, “This year alone, more than nine tigers have died in the state and a number of elephants have also died due to railway accidents and electrocution. The state cannot be a moot spectator. It is an alarming situation. Remedial measures are required to be taken at the earliest to save the wildlife from poachers and also to relocate/shift van gujjars from the forest areas. It is also the need of the hour that criminal tribes are kept at bay from the vicinity of national parks to protect the wildlife.”

Among the points on which supplementary affidavits were asked by the court were — how many van gujjar families are still residing in national parks in Uttarkhand including Corbett Tiger Reserve and how soon they would be evicted; when would the Special Tiger Protection Force become functional, and whether the cases filed against poachers under the relevant provisions of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 have been decided by forest officers. The court also asked for year-wise details of the pending cases. The judges further queried on “what effective and meaningful steps have been taken to keep at bay the gangs of Gopi, Balko Babariya and Gama Gujjars from the national parks of the state including Corbett.” The chief secretary was directed to inform whether any policy had been framed to save wild animals from electrocution on railway tracks.

 The judges also directed the state government to “open sufficient number of rescue centres inside and outside the national parks including CTR to treat the injured, sick and maimed animals by deploying sufficient number of veterinary doctors and paramedical staff.”