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Nanital: Expressing dissatisfaction at the steps taken by the state government to protect tigers, Uttarakhand high court (HC) on Thursday asked the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) if it can take over the reserve’s management for three months. “As an extreme step, we seek the response of the NTCA, being an expert body, to take over the management of Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR), as an interim measure, till the state government becomes alive to its duties and starts taking concrete decisions,” the division bench of acting chief justice Rajiv Sharma and Lok Pal Singh said.
The court also asked the NTCA to suggest what concrete steps should be taken to conserve and preserve the tiger population in the core/critical areas as well as in buffer zones in a time-bound manner.
The Court added that the state government has not shown “its keen interest to protect the wildlife including tigers, elephants, birds and 600 bird species.” The state government is the protector and not the destroyer of the rights of ordinary citizens. It is better to have no law than laws not enforced. It is the duty of the state government to protect the wildlife. The court also dwelt upon the matter of eight rescued elephants from private owners near CTR earlier last month and directed the principal chief conservator of forests to “relocate the rescued elephants either to Kalagarh or Dhikala in batches within three days.
The court also stipulated that the divisional forest officer concerned “shall only be the competent authority to grant permission/sanction to cut trees from orchards/groves in the close vicinity of Corbett Tiger Reserve and national parks”.