Thursday, November 26, 2020

Uttarakhand Wildlife Board de-notifies Shivalik Elephant Reserve for expansion of Dehradun airport

Dehradun: In the face of opposition from activists and environmentalists, the Uttarakhand State Wildlife Board on Tuesday decided to denotify the Shivalik Elephant Reserve. The decision was taken during the 16th meeting of the board chaired by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to make way for the expansion of Dehradun's Jolly Grant airport.

In addition, the Uttarakhand State Wildlife Board also gave its approval to four new trek routes in Nelang Valley in the Gangotri National Park in a bid to boost tourism in the state. The newly approved trek routes include Dumku-Chorgad (18km), Jaspur-Brahmikhal (14km), Jhala-Avan meadow (10km) and Nadung-Janaktal (10km).

Chief Wildlife Warden JS Suhag told news agency PTI that the withdrawal of the 2002 notification on Shivalik Elephant Reserve will allow authorities to initiate development activities in an area spread across 5,405 sq km falling under a dozen forest divisions across the state of Uttarakhand. This will include the expansion of the Dehradun airport, he added.

"The notification on Shivalik Elephant Reserve had no legal sanction as it was just a government order which did not have the Cabinet's approval," JS Suhag went on to add.

Referring to the newly approved trek routes, the Chief Wildlife Warden said that the limit of five vehicles and 30 people per day has now been increased to 20 vehicles and 100 people per day.

26/11/20 India Today

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