M A I N   N E W S

Tougher norms to protect wildlife parks
Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service

What’s in, what’s out While the new guidelines clearly mention activities prohibited in these protected areas, the emphasis is on allowing regulated development in these zones Prohibited: Commercial mining, setting up of saw mills, pollution-causing industries and hydropower projects, commercial use of firewood, and tourism activities like flying over protected areas in an aircraft or hot air balloon and discharge of effluents and solid waste in natural water bodies or terrestrial area Regulated: Setting up of hotels and resorts, felling of trees, drastic change in agriculture systems and commercial use of natural water resources, including groundwater harvesting Permitted: Ongoing agriculture, rainwater harvesting, adoption of green technology and use of renewable energy

Chandigarh, January 21
India is finally making efforts to prevent unplanned urbanisation from choking wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has formulated new guidelines to speed up creation of eco sensitive zones, which will act as shock absorbers around sanctuaries and national parks.

The ministry has asked all states to set up a committee -- comprising the wildlife warden, an ecologist and a revenue department official of the area -- to suggest the requirement of an eco sensitive zone and its extent. The panel will also suggest the best methods to manage such zones and broad-based thematic activities to be included in the master plan for the area.

Many protected areas have already undergone tremendous development in close vicinity of their boundaries and some are actually located in an urban set up. It has, thus, been decided that the earlier procedure of keeping a 10-km buffer (from the boundaries of an eco fragile zone) may not always be possible. But in other cases, where sensitive corridors, connectivity and ecologically important patches — crucial for landscape linkages — are even beyond the 10-km width, these should be included in eco sensitive zones.

Defining the extent of eco sensitive zones around protected areas will be flexible and protected area-specific, say the new guidelines. While all states and union territories were asked to forward proposals to set up eco sensitive zones, only some like Haryana, Gujarat, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam and Goa have done so.

Chandigarh: The Federation of Sector Welfare Associations (FOSWAC) on Friday welcomed the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s stay orders on booking, selling and construction activities at Tata’s Camelot housing project that would overlook the Sukhna Lake. Chairman PC Sanghi appreciated the initiative of FOSWAC legal adviser Aalok Jagga and senior advocate DS Patwalia in filing a PIL seeking directions to maintain status quo in the matter and congratulated The Tribune for highlighting this issue aggressively through its columns. “We believe that after the stay on Tata’s Camelot project and issue of directions for integration of the Master Plans by the High Court, the UT Administration and Punjab and Haryana will go ahead and declare the entire catchment area of Sukhna Lake — Kaimbwala, Khuda Lahora, Kansal, Nayagaon, Saketri and Mahadevpur as an eco sensitive zone,” a FOSWAC press release said.