Cal HC restricts number of VIP entrants in forest areas

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has stopped the entry of VIPs for ecotourism in forest areas to save wildlife. The order comes after a PIL was filed in connection with unnatural death of elephants, bisons and other wild animals, birds, reptiles, amphibians etc in North Bengal during the recent past.

A division bench comprising Justices Sanjib Banerjee and Arijit Banerjee, during the hearing of the PIL filed by petitioner Advocate Siddhartha Banerjee, said in an order that "the state must ensure that not an inch of forest land is taken over for any purpose whatsoever and, particularly, so-called eco-tourism must be controlled and checked so that the pristine environment of the forests are not degraded".

"The number of persons allowed entry at any given point of time must be strictly monitored and the ethos of VIP culture, with all rules abandoned for VIPs, must be eschewed. No exceptions can be made to any class of persons for their pleasure, when it comes to preserving forests and the plant and animal life therein."

The order also read: "The State submits that appropriate measures are necessary, both to ensure the right of passage of elephants, bisons, rhinoceros and other wild animals both in the northern forests in the State and elsewhere, including in the Jangalmahal."

The High Court also pointed out that there can be no encroachment into any forest area in the name of development without its conservation and ecology and the preservation of wildlife being first looked into. Experts need to be consulted and a road map built so that green corridors can be constructed over railway lines or highways where roads or railway lines have cut through forests.