|
|
|
|
|
Wildlife corridors
Don’t break the link |
|
|
|
|
Right to passage for the wild Human settlements, ammunition depot, highways and water channels have fragmented wildlife corridors connecting Rajaji and Corbett national parks. Wild animals now face the risk of inbreeding and local extinction. By Jotirmay Thapliyal
as the Rajaji National Park —known for its elephants — in Uttarakhand inches towards ensuring itself a tiger reserve status, securing corridors for its wildlife continues to be cumbersome task, full of challenges. Villager residents, national highway, water channel, railway track, transmission lines and an Army ammunition dump have shrunk, and even fragmented, these corridors. This has posed a grave threat to tigers, and more importantly, the pachyderm which stands as a parameter to judge a corridor's space and connectivity. An elephant moves long distances and owing to its sheer size, a corridor suitable for it is suitable for every other wildlife species in the forest, be it tiger, leopard, deer or other smaller animals. Uttarakhand boasts of a commendable population of both tigers and elephants. In this context, wildlife corridors hold significance, particularly when Jim Corbett National Park continues to be a habitat with one of the densest population of tigers. The corridors can bring this dispersing tiger population to the Rajaji Park, which has a miniscule population of striped cats. Crucial walkways A strip of land that connects one forest patch to another is a wildlife corridor. In other words, a gallery or passageway that connects two places is known as a corridor. These corridors hold the key to animal movement and are the very basis to the survival of a species. The corridors increase landscape connectivity by facilitating the movement of wildlife between two habitats, thereby minimising the risk of inbreeding and local extinction. Large animals such as elephants require huge quantities of food and water for drinking and bathing purposes. They have to cover long distances in search of food and water, and here corridors come into play, acting as a vital link between two habitats. The corridors ensure that the nutritional, genetic and demographic needs of animals are met. Core issues The Rajaji National Park is the northwestern limit of the distribution of tigers in the subcontinent and home to around 15 to 18 Bengal tigers as per the 2010-11 Census. However, poor connectivity between the eastern and western part of Rajaji is a bane for the tigers. The western part has only two tigresses while the rest of the population is on the eastern side. This could pose a challenge in the form of inbreeding and corridor connectivity. Further, the dispersed population of Corbett tigers — if they manage to reach Rajaji — will be restricted to the eastern part, which is linked to Corbett. The western part is isolated due to the fragmentation of the Chilla Motichur and Motichur Gohri corridors. Khandgaon village continues to be a blockage in the Chilla Motichur corridor. The rehabilitation process has begun and many village residents have started constructing houses in the allotted land at Rishikesh, but it would take some more time before the corridor is cleared. Next is the vexed issue of the Army ammunition dump. Land has been identified in Rishikesh for the shifting of the dump and sources reveal that the Army is keen to shift it, but the matter is not being taken on priority by the Ministry of Defence. Some conservationists say even if electric fencing around the dump is removed, the elephant movement would at least be easy. There is a proposal to shift the railway track from inside the Rajaji Park. Even though the Union Railway Ministry has given its consent to the proposal, no time frame has been fixed for its implementation. Furthermore, the elephant population goes for seasonal migration across the Ganga and vice versa but the construction of the Chilla water channel in the mid-70s and the eastern Ganga canal came as an obstacle to these migrations. This divided the population of elephant into two units. Corridors are very important for the movement of wildlife and are the very basis of survival of wildlife in the region. While there is urgency to secure corridors between two parts of the park, effective corridor linking between Rajaji and Corbett are the need of the hour. Recovery plan SP Subudhi, Director of the Rajaji National Park, says the corridors should be notified in the interest of the wildlife. All corridors have an informal status and are not legally notified as protected, which is a big impediment. "As none of these corridors are notified by the state government, securing Rajaji's corridors has been a big challenge for the park authorities and conservationists. Fragmentation of these corridors has taken place with time and is one of the major threats to the long-term conservation of wildlife," he says. Human habitations and infrastructure activities like highways and power channels have shrunk the corridors and have even lead to blockages in several places, he adds. Subudhi, who recently has been instrumental in getting Rajaji Park a notified park status, is now making efforts for a tiger reserve status for the park. Dr AK Singh, a scientist and head of the Wildlife Trust of India, an NGO in Uttarakhand seeking legal protection for corridors, underlines the need for proper recovery plan for the corridors. He says no development activity should come in the corridor area, or even in its close vicinity under any circumstances. Uttarakhand is witnessing a fast pace of development and there is need for the conservation of the corridors. Corridors were the first to become victims of infrastructure development, he says, adding that track, water channel and highways are symbols of development, but were also the biggest stumbling blocks in the obstruction-free corridors. He hopes that the two overpasses being constructed at the Chilla Motichur and Kansro Badkot corridors at a cost of Rs 100 crore would come as a huge relief. The overpasses are being constructed by the National Highway Authority of India. Dr Bivash Pandav, who heads the department of endangered species management, Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and has been working in Rajaji for many years, says there were solutions to secure the corridors, but the slow pace of remedial action is making matters worse. The construction at the proposed overpasses is moving at a snail's pace, revealing lack of seriousness on part of the authorities concerned. Similarly, the resettlement of Khandgoan village is still to be completed and the issue of the ammunition dump is still to be resolved. He says securing the corridors was very important to minimise man-elephant conflict. Former Rajaji Park director SS Rasaily, who is credited with a comprehensive management plan for 2012-13 to 2021-2022, says it is unfortunate that most corridors today stand fragmented and blocked at several places. He points out that it is important to have a long-term conservation plan and it was time to act fast as the biotic pressure is increasing. Surendra Mehra, director, Corbett National Park, says effective corridor linking between Corbett and Rajaji will boost tiger conservation efforts. While tigers are thriving in Corbett, it is important to ensure that the spillover from Corbett reaches another tiger habitat, Rajaji, which can only be done by strengthening the corridors, he says. "There is lot of scope for tigers in Rajaji. Tigers from Corbett, who are in search of new territories, could get a new habitat," says Mehra, who has also been deputy director at the Rajaji Park. Dr Hemsingh Gehlot, eminent zoologist and assistant professor with Jai Narayan Vyas University, Jodhpur, who headed WWF India Terai Arc Landscape unit in Uttarakhand, also underlines the need for a corridor recovery plan. The importance of corridors is still to be realised by the common people. "These corridors are not just corridors, but lifeline for species like elephant and tiger," he says, adding that while corridors are a vital link that help elephant search for food and water, these are also helpful for tigers to search for new territories. He stresses it is important to work with the communities, particularly those residing in the corridor area or its close vicinity, to seek alternative energies, alternative livelihood, awareness, protection and habitat improvement. Overgrazing of cattle and cutting of forests for fuel wood, fodder, deterioration of vegetation, etc. are also affecting the corridors. Echoing similar sentiments, Corbett Park honorary wildlife warden Brijendra Singh suggests better coordination between the forest department and the state government towards freeing elephant corridors from encroachments. Blockages of corridors are increasing and there is no solution in sight. The problem aggravates in cases of elephant, he says. Sincere efforts to secure elephant corridors in the state are still to be undertaken.
Why corridors are needed
|
|
Blockages in wildlife corridors have resulted in increased man-animal conflict incidents. Obstruction in the natural and habitual migratory routes of elephants has forced them to enter human settlements in their effort to cross from one patch of the forest to another. Nearly 100 persons have lost their lives and 65 persons have got injured in Uttarakhand since the inception of the state in the year 2000 in such incidents. Most of these mishaps have taken place in the corridors. Chilla-Motichur The Chilla power channel, a railway track passing through this area and settlement of Tehri Dam evacuees in Khandgaon III village in the corridor is another challenge. A flyover has been proposed to ensure smooth connectivity for elephants. Motichur-Gohri The corridor — 4-km long and 1-km wide — links the eastern part of Rajaji with the west. It is aligned along the Song which originates from the park near the Nepali farm and flows into the Ganga near Gori Mafi village. The corridor faces challenge from road and railway traffic, Gujjar and Tehri dam oustees' settlements, Chilla water channel and Indian Drugs and Pharmaceutical Ltd factory. Kansrau-Barkote This 2.5-km-long and 2-km-wide corridor connects the Kansro range of the national park with the Rishikesh range of the Dehradun forest division. It faces threat from heavy road traffic on the busy Dehradun-Hardwar highway, besides illicit felling and grazing. There are few corridors that link the Rajaji Park with Corbett. These corridors are extremely important for conservation as they link the two most important wildlife habitats of the region that are very crucial for the well being of the Asian elephants and Bengal tigers. Rajaji-Corbett Rawsan Sonanadi corridors run through two stretches, one via Lansdowne forest division and the other via Bijnor forest division of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. The corridor via the Lansdowne division falls in the high ecological priority, connecting the eastern end of the Rajaji Park with the western end of the Corbett tiger reserve. Industrial area in the vicinity of the corridor, expansion of Gujjar settlements and large volume of traffic on Kotdwar and Pauri road are some of the challenges here. While this corridor is regularly used by elephants, a large number of villages are dependent on this corridor for livelihood, often resulting in man-elephant conflict. The corridor via the Bijnor division connects the eastern part of the park with Sonanadi region of Corbett. With an approximate length of 42 km and a width of 6 km, it has been degraded due to cultivation and coming up of settlements. Only small groups of elephants now use it. The proposed conversion of Kotdwar-Laldhang and Kotdwar-Kalagarh road into highways and Gujjar settlements are a major threat.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
as 
Blockages
The Rajaji Park wildlife today faces a grave threat due to the fragmentation of its corridors. About 60 per cent of the park falls on the west of the Ganga while the remaining is on the east. Despite being small, the eastern part assumes much significance as it is connected to the Corbett National Park through the Landsdowne forest division. Unfortunately, both parts are not well connected. Some corridors like Chilla Motichur and Gohri connect the eastern and western parts of Rajaji, but their condition is poor. Elephants and smaller animals want to cross over to the western part to get access to the Ganga waters by using the Chilla Motichur and Gohri corridors, but often get into conflict due to the hindrance in movement due to the fragmentation of the corridors.
This 3.5-km-long and 1-km-wide corridor passes across National Highway 72, which has a very heavy volume of traffic. As per a survey, on an average, 31,000 vehicles pass through this highway every day. Another big challenge comes in the form of the Raiwala Army ammunition dump. Despite repeated efforts by the state wildlife authorities and identification of alternative land for its shifting, the ammunition dump is still there.