The Supreme Court on Monday directed the State of Uttarakhand to restore the ecological damage caused to the Corbett Tiger Reserve by construction activities and illegal tree felling..The bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai, Justice Vinod Chandran and Justice NV Anjaria ordered that the State's Chief Wildlife Warden, in consultation with the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), will submit a plan for the restoration of the Corbett Tiger Reserve in line with an Expert Committee-recommendations, within two months."In relation to Corbett Tiger Reserve, the CEC will monitor and supervise the implementation of the ecological restoration plan developed by the State of Uttarakhand. While developing and implementing this plan and carrying out afforestation, the State of Uttarakhand must ensure that only native and indigenous species are identified, with special care to not introduce any alien species to the ecosystem," the Court directed.The Court also ordered demolition of all unauthorised structures in the tiger reserve."Begin all clearing/demolition of unauthorised construction as identified by the Expert Committee, before the lapse of 3 months from the date of this judgment," it directed..In March 2024, the Court had said that Tiger Safari can be permitted in the buffer zone of Jim Corbett National Park but not in its core area. It was dealing with the case regarding permissions for the planned Pakhro Tiger Safari project at the national park.The Court had in that judgment pulled up former Uttarakhand Forest Minister Harak Singh Rawat and Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Kishan Chand for destroying the national park and ordered constitution of an Expert Committee for an in-depth inquiry and recommendations based on various aspects, particularly Tiger Safari..Tiger Safari guidelines.In terms of the Expert Committee recommendations, the Court today held that Tiger Safari shall not be permitted in the core or a critical tiger habitat area."Tiger Safari shall be established on ‘non-forest land’ or ‘degraded forest land’ in buffer area provided that is not part of a tiger corridor," it added.Tiger Safari shall be allowed only in association with a full-fledged rescue and rehabilitation centre for tigers where conflict animals, injured animals or abandoned animals are housed for care and rehabilitation, the Court further directed.The Court also ordered that the entire area of the Tiger Reserve, including Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) of the Protected Areas, shall be notified as “silence zone” under the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, within three months.It also issued various other measures for effective management of tiger reserves on a pan-India basis. Pertinently, it directed that there shall be strict prohibition on outsourcing of forest staff officers in performance of core functions.The Court directed that Tiger Safaris may be established and run with due consideration of the ‘Guidelines to Establish Tiger Safari in Buffer and Fringe Areas of Tiger Reserves 2019’ issued by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) with additional requirements.The requirements are:- Only animals rescued and/or conflict animals from the tiger reserve or from the same landscape should be housed in the tiger safaris;- Rescue Centre to be established in conjunction with such tiger safari shall provide essential veterinary support to such facility and help in treatment/care of captured animals;- Tiger safari should be under the management control of the Field Director of the concerned tiger reserve with supervision of the Chief Wildlife Warden;- Earnings should be ploughed back through the concerned tiger conservation foundations;- Design considerations should be such that there is no scope for interaction between in-situ and ex-situ populations;- Enclosure design must be approved by the CZA;- Carrying capacity norms should be developed;- Solar/Hybrid/Electric vehicles to be promoted and number of vehicles also must be regulated; and- Strict Zero Discharge of waste water to be permitted from safaris..Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) around all Tiger Reserves.Meanwhile, the Court directed all the State governments to notify Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) around all tiger reserves including buffer and fringe areas within one year."We are of the firm belief that ESZs cannot only be restricted to Sanctuaries or National Parks, and must include buffer and peripheral areas of Tiger Reserves as well," the Court said.In this regard, the Court accepted the recommendations of the Committee on what activities shall be permitted."We direct the State Governments to take into consideration these recommendations while framing the required statutory or regulatory framework," it ordered..Eco tourism and restrictions.On whether resorts can be permitted within the close proximity of protected areas, the Court said that eco-tourism cannot resemble mass tourism and must be adequately regulated and adhere strictly to NTCA Guidelines. New eco-friendly resorts may be allowed in buffer but shall not be allowed in an identified corridor, it added. The directions issued in this regard are:- Homestays and community-managed establishments should be encouraged and incentives should also be given to them;- Zero waste practices should be made mandatory;- Use of mobile phones within tourism zones of the core habitat of tiger reserves should not be permitted;- Vehicular carrying capacity as prescribed in the NTCA guidelines needs to be calculated and strictly enforced;- Complete ban on night tourism must be implemented;- In those tiger reserves where roads traverse the core/critical tiger habitat, strict night regulation (no traffic from dusk to dawn except ambulances/emergency) needs to be exercised..On religious tourism, the Court noted that on account of huge influx of devotees, there is large disturbance to the wildlife."It is noticed that hundreds of people ply within the core areas on account of such pilgrimage. In order to regulate such disturbances, we find that a balanced approach needs to be adopted balancing the concerns of the wild as well as religious sentiments of the devotees. We are informed that Sariska Tiger Reserve and some other reserves have issued certain guidelines so as to regulate the movement of devotees in the core areas. We find that similar steps are required to be taken into other Tigers Reserves wherever the sites of pilgrimage are situated," the Court said..The Court directed the Central government as well as the State governments to take necessary steps for implementing the directions issued today. "We are, however, aware about the fact that in various Tiger Reserves there could be peculiar situations. We, therefore, though direct that the aforesaid directions and recommendations would be made applicable to all the Tiger Reserves, the State would be at liberty to make minor modifications in the recommendations made by us hereinabove in consultation with the Wildlife Institute of India and NTCA," it added..[Read Judgment].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.
