Tannuka Juneja
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the government of West Bengal to shut down all hotels and restaurants or campsites in the Buxa Tiger Reserve within two months.
The NGT also ordered a facility run by the state tourism department to be closed and turned into an interpretation centre, which if not done will be demolished within two months.
The court, in its May 30 order, said no private hotels, restaurants or camping resorts are allowed in the state government holding area… “May accordingly be closed within two months following due process, which will be the responsibility of the state PCB (Pollution Control Board), field director, Buxa Tiger Reserve and district magistrate.”
The court noted that the Buxa Tiger Reserve has 69 private facilities and 20 state-owned facilities, some of which are located in the main area of the sanctuary and the rest on the banks of the Jayanti River.
The forest department had earlier informed the NGT that the activities of these lodges are confined to areas, which were once ‘forest villages’ and designated as ‘revenue villages’ in 2014. It added that the 69 privately owned guesthouses, hotels and restaurants are “confined to enclave revenue villages, which were earlier forest villages”. The department said there are 37 such revenue villages in the forests of the Buxa Tiger Reserve.
An affidavit filed by the state in February this year had mentioned that conversion of the forest villages to revenue ones was made in terms of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, which “does not require approval of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980”.
The NGT’s Eastern Bench noted in its order that the protection of forest rights under the 2006 Act cannot be required to follow procedures under the Conservation Act 1980, “the same cannot be held to permit commercial activity in such area.”
The NGT ordered that a facility operated by the Department of Tourism in Buxa be turned over to the Forest Department and used as a interpretation-cum-training centre for nature conservation and management.
