Uttarakhand wildlife habitat caught in crossfire

Controversy brews in the heart of Terai Arc Landscape, which is a part of crucial tiger-elephant habitat in the country, in Uttarakhand.

The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) under the Environment Ministry had directed for notifying Nandhour and Powalgarh forests in the area as wildlife sanctuaries while granting permission to carry out boulder mining in the nearby Gola River till May this year. However, this direction of FAC has not yet been complied with so far by the State.

But with mining season approaching from November, the State Government, according to sources, is planning to declare this area as a conservation reserve rather than a wildlife sanctuary. This, experts say, will not ensure adequate protection to these forests which have a good tiger presence.

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) had carried out surveys in the area, recording presence of both inhabiting and breeding tigers in the region. Dr Bibhash Pandav, heading the Department of Endangered Species, WII, who is working in the region, said an area of 400 sq kms Nandhour forests under Haldwani Forest Division has camera-trapped at least 8-10 tigers. Besides, recent studies have also documented presence of other rare wildlife species such as Large Indian Civet, honey badger, sloth bear, serow and red-headed trogon in the region.

Further, the area also forms the connecting link between Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand and Pilibhit forest of UP. On the eastern side this landscape maintains direct connectivity with the Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve of Nepal through the Brahmadev corridor across Sharada River. Most importantly, the area is free of human habitations as well, pointed out Dr Pandav. Pawallgarh forest is much smaller with an area of about 64sq kms under Ramnagar Forest Division.

However, the point of contention originates from the issue of boulder mining done across the Gola River, about 15-20 kms from the site. The FAC under MoEF vide its letter No. 8-61/1999-FC dated April 8,  2011 while granting permission to carry out boulder mining in Gola River till 31.05.2012, laid down 30 conditions to allow mining in the region.

In condition number 12, the letter from MoEF states, “To ensure long-term survival of the wildlife in the important habitats located on northern side of the Ramnagar-Haldwani State highway, the State Government shall initiate appropriate measures to improve conservation status of the area such as Powalgarh and Nandhour by notifying them as wildlife sanctuaries. This should be done in the time bound manner before applying for further extension of this permission.”

However, the boulder mining here starts from November and continues till end of May. Now that the mining season is approaching, the sources pointed out that in a bid to comply with the FAC directive, the State  is planning to declare it a conservation reserve rather than a wildlife sanctuary. In such a case, the local village committees residing in the vicinity of the forest areas will have a role in the management of the forest.

Sources in the State Forest Department pointed out that if this area is declared as sanctuary, the eco-sensitive zone will extend upto 10 kms which will include the Nandhaur mining area. However, phase-2 of the State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttaranchal (SIDCUL) is scheduled to be launched on October 21 by the CM. In such a situation if it is declared a wildlife sanctuary,  all its development proposals will be struck in the National Board for Wildlife.

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