Uttarakhand: New notification on Askot sanctuary comes as boon for nearby villages

Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand): A new notification declaring Askot Wildlife Sanctuary as an eco-sensitive zone leaves more than 111 villages of Dharchula, Munsiyari and Didihat sub-divisions of Pithoragarh district out of the ambit of the protected area paving the way for their infrastructure development.

The gazette notification declaring Askot Wildlife Sanctuary as an eco-sensitive zone was issued by the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment on December 2 reducing its area by 146 square kilometres, a stretch along which over 111 villages are located.

After the new notification, Askot Wildlife Sanctuary has become the first sanctuary in the state without any villages inside it, forest officers said on Monday.

"The Askot sanctuary that was created in 2013, was to have a total area of 599.93 square km whereas the new notification declaring it as eco-sensitive zone covers an area of only 454.65 square km, leaving an area of approximately 146 square km out of the sanctuary," former DFO of Pithoragarh Vinay

Bhargava said.

It has come as a relief to over 111 villages located in the 146 square km stretch that had been complaining about lack of infrastructure development since the sanctuary was established in 1986, said Bhargava, who was until recently the DFO of Pithoragarh district.

Askot Wildlife Sanctuary is situated some 54 km north of Pithoragarh and was notified in 1986 primarily for preserving the musk deer and other rare Himalayan species and their natural habitats as increased human encroachment was resulting in their gradual depletion, he said.

Besides the musk deer, the sanctuary also has the presence of snow leopards, snow cocks, monal and koklass pheasants. It also has rare varieties of 2,600 Himalayan herbs and 250 varieties of birds and 37 varieties of reptiles, the forest

officer said.

According to Dharchula forest range officer Sunil kumar, the recent notification leaves the villages out of the ambit of the sanctuary, a protected area, which was obstructing their development.

The residents of the surrounding villages are happy that the new notification has reduced the area of the eco-sensitive zone.

"After the land beyond river Gori towards west has come out of sanctuary eco-sensitive zone, the long proposed motor road from Didihat via Adichaura to Munsiyari can now be constructed," said Sanju Pant, a resident of Didihat town.