6000 trees were chopped off for the new safari zone in Corbett National Park : FSI

It has never been about the tigers or the trees ever! Coming across a striking news report on dismantling over 6000 trees illegally in the name of the Tiger Safari Project in Corbett has left the Uttarakhand Forest Department in nuts and bolts.

Although the charge was denied by the former in front of the Central organizational departments. Reports surfacing of shaving off 6000 trees for the Pakhro Tiger Safari Project have left the center and the state governments in a fix. 

Former Forest Minister of Uttarakhand Harak Singh Rawat laid the foundation stone of the Pakhro Tiger Safari in December 2020. The recent incident of mass cutting of trees was surfaced by Gaurav Kumar Bansal, an environment activist and a lawyer based in Delhi, as reported by The Hindu. 

After he filed the complaint, the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Central Zoo Authority questioned the Uttarakhand Forest Department to provide information about the number of trees being cut.

The higher authorities also directed the Forest Survey Institute to conduct a comprehensive survey for illegal felling. 

Not so surprising fact disclosed in the reports of the Forest Survey of India, which validated the findings of Gaurav (the complainant) about the number of trees being dismantled by the authorities at the Corbett Tiger Reserve. In its 81-page report, the Forest Survey of India stamped on a score of 6093 trees being cut off without any legal approvals. 

The report also offers some striking revelations about 16.21 hectares of land being shaved off of trees by the Uttarakhand Forest Department officials for the said project. This has put the department in a swamp. 

Clearing the air, the Uttarakhand Forest Department has not accepted the allegations charged in the report yet. Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Head of the Forest Force, Vinod Singhal, in an interview with the Hindustan Times, iterated that the department has submitted a detailed observation report regarding the Forest Survey of India findings.

All that glitters is not gold and all that flutters is not innocent! It is not just about the forest Survey of India striking blame on the department officials.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Ministry of Environment and forests have also alleged irregularities in the implementation of the mentioned project. 

With the matter garnering high profile attention, all for the right reasons though; the Central Empowered Committee has asked the Uttarakhand government previously to submit its views on the alleged remarks from varied investigating agencies about illegal felling and construction activities in the Corbett Tiger Reserve and the Kalagarh Forest Division, as reported by PTI.

With forest officials found guilty of the charge with sheer evidence reports being furnished by the seekers, it becomes highly invasive and elusive to evade the irony of a faltering polity.

This is one environment conservationist, Gaurav Bansal, who has put his life at risk by highlighting the fallacy of the reputed environment department officials.

This clearly puts great pressure on the governments and departments concerned to clarify and punish the wrongdoers in the entire scandal.

Do checkout the existing safari zones in Corbett National Park.