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Supreme Court raises concerns over entry of private cars, pollution at Sariska
The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed concerns over the unchecked entry of private vehicles into protected areas of the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan, and improper disposal of plastic waste in the area, as it sought a proper action plan to keep the sensitive region free of pollution.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed concerns over the unchecked entry of private vehicles into protected areas of the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan, and improper disposal of plastic waste in the area, as it sought a proper action plan to keep the sensitive region free of pollution.
“If private vehicles are allowed to enter these areas, they will keep honking and throwing things in the forest,” a bench headed by justice BR Gavai said.
The bench, which also comprised justice Sandeep Mehta, expressed concerns over the improper disposal of plastic items, wrappers and other waste matter, as it referred to a video of a tiger spotted with a plastic bottle in his mouth at the reserve.
“This is dangerous,” the court said.
The problem of unchecked entry of private vehicles at the Sariska reserve was brought to the notice of the court in July last year by advocate K Parmeshwar, appearing as amicus curiae in a bunch of forest and environment matters in the TN Godavarman case. Parmeshwar had suggested the operation of electric buses inside the reserve with radio-tagging facilities, to allow forest officials to keep a check on their movement amid concerns of poaching.
Around the same time, the top court constituted a five-member expert committee to suggest measures to curb the entry of private vehicles at the reserve. While the panel, in its report, recommended the operation of electric buses, it said state roadway buses must be allowed to ply for access to a temple inside the reserve till a final decision has been made.
The top court, however, found the committee’s report “incomplete” on Wednesday and directed the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to assist the panel, and sought a comprehensive report on the matter.
“We further expect the committee and CEC to submit an action plan with timelines,” the bench said.
While forming the five-member committee last year, the top court had observed: “The state is attempting to find out a solution to the issue of lakhs of people visiting the temple situated in the area...We feel that for finding a complete solution, it would be necessary that a body of experts sits together and comes up with an appropriate solution.”
The Sariska sanctuary is spread over 1213.34 square kilometres in the Aravalli Hills. Apart from tigers, there is a large population of leopards, sambar, chital, nilgai, langur and other animals.
