India’s vandalised sanctuaries
Environment
By Sharad K. Soni

WORLD Environment Day comes and goes every year and is observed in the same old tired fashion — full-page advertisements in the newspapers and magazines extolling the Central and state governments’ achievements in saving the environment.

Once the ads had been placed in publications and the obligatory speeches and seminars were through, it was back to business. Forgotten was the fact that India is one of the third most polluted countries in the world. Also forgotten was the plight of the sanctuaries and wildlife reserves which have become a haven for poachers, forest mafia and irresponsible tourism.

It is no secret that national parks and sanctuaries need serious attention in terms of protecting and conserving our spectacular wildlife and fragile eco-system. In recent years, wildlife tourism in India has moved forward in volumes with tour operators conducting excursions for both foreign as well as domestic vacationers.

The best season to visit these parks and sanctuaries for animal sighting is winter when tourist influx is at its peak. Jeeps, cars, and mini-buses equipped with glaring head lamps, full blast stereo sets, flash-lit cameras and picnic hampers often violate visiting hours, scare the animals and litter the surroundings with plastic bags and garbage. Instead of acquiring an educative attitude the enjoyment is at the cost of animals and environment.

Do we really need attitudinal changes towards wildlife tourism? The question has begged an answer at various meetings, seminars, committees but all in vain. Ironically, even noted Indian environmentalists and wildlife experts simply voice their concern and seldom come forthwith viable solutions.

Says Subhash Goyal, President of the Indian Association of Tour Operators and chairman foreign tourists who come especially for wildlife are extremely of the Stic group of travel chain: "Foreign tourists who come especially for wildlife are extremely disciplined and very particular about not disturbing animals or polluting wildlife parks. Unfortunately, the domestic tourists, specially the new rich Indians, cause extensive damage. We have to constantly request them not to play loud music or use flash lights but to no avail."

Says Usha Rai, the well-known journalist and consultant, World Wildlife Fund Tiger Conservation Programme: "I think it’s got something to do with the Indian psyche that we don’t care for animals, but at the same time it is imperative that the tourist traffic increases to sanctuaries as it would create a new respect for animals."

About 4 per cent of India’s land area is protected by national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. With the enactment of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, a uniform legal framework came into existence to protect the eco-system and wildlife. Today there are 80 national parks covering an area of 34,684 sq. km.

However, it is only around 30 popular spots which bear the brunt of the tourist overload. Even some of the select areas inside the wildlife reserves have come under tourist pressure in sharp violation of ‘carrying-capacity’ norms. For example, Jogi Mahal in the Ranthambhore National Park and Dhikala in the Corbett National Park witness a heavy and usually unruly tourist traffic.

Some of the leading reserves creaking under tourist pressure include the Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary in Haryana Corbett and Dudhwa in U.P. ; Bandhavgarh and Kanha in M.P. : Sariska Tiger Reserve, Keoladeo Ghana and Ranthambhore in Rajasthan; Gir in Gujarat; Borivili in Maharashtra; Bandipur and Rajiv Gandhi formerly Nagarhole National Parks in Karnataka; Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary ( formerly Anamalais Wildlife Sanctuary) in Tamil Nadu; Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala; Sunderbans in West Bengal and Manas Tiger Reserve and Kaziranga in Assam.

The estimated annual turnover of visitors in Corbett is 40,000, in Gir 23,000, in Borivili 25,000, in Kanha 66,000 in Ranthambhore 20,000 and in Sariska in the peak month of December alone there are about 4,000 visitors.

The crowding of wildlife reserves is also due to the casual visitors whose interest is no more than a stop-over en route to some other places. And during such stop-over it’s usually a free for all .

"A number of Indian tourists to these national parks are very influential people and it is they who cause the maximum damage," says Goyal. " They have neither a sense of responsibility nor any strict enforcement agency. It’s pathetic."

Agrees Usha Rai: "Even though we need tourists, they should be told the do and don’ts in such places. They have to learn to respect the sanctity of national parks."

A recent case in point is Sasan-Gir, home of the Asiatic lion where, the Kankai Temple trust, which runs the temple located inside the sanctuary, has been sanctioned special privileges by the Gujarat state government in total violation of forest rules and Wildlife Protection Act. These include plying of vehicles any time of the day or night, building of guest houses for night halts, plying commercial vehicles carrying construction material and setting up of a diesel engine windmill — all of which is virtually dealing a death blow to the world famous park.

Tour operators have often been accused of bribing the wildlife staff to secure night-time entry for their affluent clients. But Goyal defends the tour operators, saying: "I fully agree that tour operators should be aware of their responsibility when they bring tourists to a protected park. But the heartening thing is that many of the regular tour operators have learnt a lot about conservation of wildlife, which they pass on to their clients."

Of late the Indian Association of Tour Operators has been holding adventure conferences and seminars in a bid to boost wildlife tourism. " It is our responsibility to tell them about the dos and don’ts , but at the same time we feel these reserves should be better mangement by the government, says Goyal.

Numerous committees have come and gone to rectify the ills of wildlife management. Recommendations have been made but these are promptly forgotten. For example, the government did nothing about some of the important recommendations made by the Roy Committee formed in 1990 on wildlife tourism. The committee had proposed an entry fee to these parks to be raised in order to discourage casual visitors. Besides, it recommended a total ban on any type of construction inside the reserved area.