The Supreme Court has in a landmark judgement on Monday accepted and upheld the report of the Central Empowered Committee to return the encroached New Kalagarh irrigation colony to the Corbett Tiger Reserve. The Uttarakhand Government has been given six months to ensure compliance and report to the court.
Talking to The Pioneer, vice chairman of the Wildlife Trust of India, Ashok Kumar, who had first moved the Allahabad High Court on the case in 1999, said that the demolition of this colony will now enable unrestricted movement of wildlife in Corbett and also decrease the chances of human intrusion. According to the WTI, the SC has also rejected the separate application filed by the Government to retain an 'Engineer's Academy' inside Corbett. It has also asked for any land pending with the Uttar Pradesh Government to be handed over to Uttarakhand.
The Supreme Court also ordered the Uttarakhand government to relocate the traders from the area. Kumar said that though a copy of the SC order will be received in a couple of days, the decision is a victory for tigers, elephants and other wildlife of Corbett. Ritwick Dutta, SC Advocate with the Delhi-based legal Initiative of Forest and Environment, who has been helping WTI in its legal matters, said, "It took almost a decade for the case to reach this stage. This has come through despite strong objections."
The New Kalagarh Irrigation Colony consists of about 784 families within the southern boundary of Corbett tiger reserve. The area was temporarily handed over to the UP Irrigation Department in August 1966, for use during the construction of the Ramganga Hydel Project in the then undivided Uttar Pradesh.
The conditions for the handover included for the land to be returned to the Forest Department on completion of the project. It was also agreed that the houses to be constructed had to be mud and not cement mortar so that they could be demolished later. However, the houses were taken over illegally by outsiders after the staff moved away when the construction of the dam was completed.
Following Kumar's petition, the lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court decided in August 1999 that all encroachments of the area had to be removed by December 15 in that year. However, before this deadline, the State bifurcated, with the dam falling in Uttar Pradesh, and the colony falling within Uttarakhand. For four years after that there was no movement on the implementation of the judgment.
In 2003, an application was heard by the Supreme Court's CEC on the issue, and ordered a site inspection. By April 2004, the CEC produced a list of recommendations, based on an assessment by the Bombay Natural History Society, which primarily argued for the removal of all encroachments within three months. It also recommended shifting all non-essential facilities such as the Engineer's Academy and other structures out of the Reserve area within six months, demolition of all walls, fencing, garden furniture to ease movement of animals and the relocation of all non-essential operational staff to the legal colony outside the national park within six months as well. Kumar said, "The issue here isn't just about the illegal encroachments and the pressure on the forest reserves.
Surprisingly, there is about 60-odd acres allocated to the Irrigation Department outside the forest area lying vacant. Movement of elephants has been greatly impacted post the dam's construction leaving them little room to navigate. With this judgment, the right of passage may finally be restored to the elephants and the wildlife of the area."