Shivalik Elephant Reserve: Uttarakhand High Court Stays Denotification Of The Only Elephant Reserve Of State

The Bench of Chief Justice R.S. Chauhan and Justice Lokpal Singh said,

"The recommendation dated 24.11.2020 of the State Wildlife Board, which provides for de-notification of the Shiwalik Elephant Reserve, is hereby stayed till the next date of listing."

As per the report of The Times of India, State's Forest minister Harak Singh Rawat said that the State Government would be challenging the stay order in the Apex Court.

"We will fight against the stay and respond to the suo motu notice taken by the high court earlier. Elephant reserve is not a legal entity and therefore, there should be no legalities around it," said Rawat.

The matter has now been listed for further hearing after four weeks.

It is important to note that the Uttarakhand High Court on Monday (04^th January) took suo motu cognizance of denotification of the Shivalik Elephant Reserve.

A Division Bench comprising of Acting Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Alok Kumar Verma issued notices to the Central and the State Government, and fixed the matter for hearing on 22^nd February, 2021.

The development came after several Delhi-based lawyers wrote to the Chief Justice, urging him to take appropriate action in the interest of natural environment and conservation of wildlife.

"Any attempt to further destroy the already extremely deteriorated natural environment in the fragile ecosystem of the beautiful State of Uttarakhand can be prevented by timely intervention of the aware citizenry," the letter read.

Terming this decision of the Uttarakhand State Wildlife Board to be 'reckless', the Advocates wrote,

"The decision prima facie appears to be hasty and short sighted and taken without due consideration for the natural environment and wildlife conservation, despite the ongoing reality of Climate Change and rapidly rising pollution.

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We sincerely request you to take suo moto cognizance of the entire situation in interest of the natural environment and conservation of wildlife and further quash the thoughtless decision of the Uttarakhand State Wildlife Board dated 24.11.2020 of denotifying the Shivalik Elephant Reserve and restore the protection granted to the habitat and corridors of the wild Indian Elephants in the state of Uttarakhand."

Background

Spread over 5,000 sq km in 14 state forest divisions, the Shivalik Elephant Reserve was notified in the year 2002 under the 'Project Elephant', which was launched by the Government of India in the year 1992 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.

The state wildlife board had, in November 2020, decided to denotify the reserve, arguing that the move will pave the way for development work in an area spanning over 4,500 sq km, including expansion of Dehradun's Jolly Grant Airport.

Interestingly, as per the report of The Times of India, the Uttarakhand government has claimed that the section of Shivalik Elephant Reserve, which it plans to denotify for the expansion of Dehradun Airport, is "not of high conservation value".

However, this claim is not in consonance with the Centre's observation that the 87 hectares of forest comprising a river and over 10,000 trees is of "high conservation value".

Significantly, in its reply to the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC), the Uttarakhand Forest Department claimed said that the part of the reserve that is being spared for the expansion of Dehradun airport is "not of high conservation" value as the area has very "scanty undergrowth such as grasses, herbs and shrubs" and the "Jakhan river nearby is also seasonal in which water is available only during the rainy season".

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