Villagers to continue protest against farming on Pong wetland in Kangra

Expressing resentment against the ongoing illegal cultivation in the Pong Wetland area in the lower Kangra hills, the villagers of around a dozen gram panchayats surrounding the Pong reservoir have decided to launch a stir.

The elected and former representatives of these panchayats convened an emergency meeting at Samkehar village which was presided over by noted environmentalist MR Sharma. Chalking a strategy, the villagers announced to start an agitation against land cultivation on the Pong Wetland and hold protest demonstrations against the state government for its apathy in stopping illegal activities in the wetlands by a few politically influential people of the area.

“Offenders cultivate wildlife sanctuary land where over one lakh exotic migratory birds throng every winter and any human activity including cultivation of land, is considered detrimental to winged visitors,” said Sharma. “They use pesticides and chemical fertilisers for growing their cereal crops, which are also fatal to the migratory birds. They also use tractors for sowing crops and combine machines for harvesting and all these activities are inimical to the birds,” he asserted.

Addressing the gathering, environmentalist Sharma, who has been struggling to preserve the environment in the Pong wetland area since 2015, said that the Supreme Court imposed a ban on all non-forestry activities in wildlife sanctuaries across the country on February 14, 2000. He alleged that some habitual offenders were cultivating the land surrounding the Pong Dam wetland with impunity.

Sharma said that farming on the sanctuary land was going on unabated due to political influence of the offenders with the concerned government authorities turning a blind eye to this illegal activity. He said that he had filed a petition in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against this menace and the next hearing had been fixed by the tribunal on September 17.

Notably, the Union Government had notified the wetland area as a wildlife sanctuary under the Indian Wildlife Act 1972 in 1999. The wildlife wing of the Forest Department, which is the custodian of the Pong Wetland Wildlife Sanctuary area, has failed to check the illegal cultivation being undertaken for years.

Detrimental to winged visitors

Offenders cultivate the land that falls under the wildlife sanctuary where over one lakh exotic migratory birds throng every winter and any human activity, including cultivation of land, is considered detrimental to winged visitors. — MR Sharma, environmentalist