DC IMPACT | Tell us about tiger reserve sports complex, NTCA tells state
HYDERABAD: The National Tiger Conservation Authority has asked for an explanation on how the Telangana Forest Department and the Kawal Tiger Reserve officials allowed the construction of a playground complex in the core area of the tiger reserve.
The NTCA directive followed within hours of a report on Thursday published in Deccan Chronicle titled ‘Sports complex in Tiger reserve sparks concerns’.
The NTCA wanted the report to provide details about how it came about that non-forestry activities were allowed inside the tiger reserve, and why such work was not stopped in the first place, and what action has now been taken to stop the work.
Following the NTCA directive, the tiger reserve staff also filed a Preliminary Offence Report (POR) against three officials of the panchayat raj department for violating various sections of the Forest Conservation Act, AP Forest Act, and the Wildlife Protection Act. Those against whom charges were framed in the POR were the Dasturabad mandal parishad officer M. Venkateswarulu, mandal panchayat officer Padmavar Anil and Lakkam Mallesh, the Buttapur gram panchayat secretary.
It may be recalled that DC reported that the Nirmal district administration began construction of the sports complex inside the core area of the reserve despite opposition from the local forest department officials. Despite their objections, under directions from the district administration, the local panchayat raj department officials started the work as part of the ‘Palle Pargati’ programme, a scheme to develop villages and create facilities for common good.
These have in the past annual Palle Pragati rounds, included construction of graveyard and crematoria complexes, ‘Palle Vanams (village gardens), and garbage dump yards. Incidentally, in several of the villages abutting forest areas in Telangana, these facilities were built on forest lands, with the state forest department officials, under political and official pressure from respective district administrations, looking the other way, and in the process, ignoring the Forest and Wildlife Conservation Act violations by Panchayat Raj officials. And since garbage dumps would lead to problems and would be in conflict with conservation laws as garbage cannot be dumped in and around forest areas, these facilities were rechristened as ‘Waste Segregation and Management’ facilities, sources told Deccan Chronicle.
Some 70 such facilities, including the garbage dumps, graveyards, and village gardens have come up just around the Kawal Tiger Reserve alone, sources said.
Forest department officials say that they are under political pressure, as well as intense pressure from district administrations to ignore forest violations in the process of setting up such facilities as Palle Pragati is a ‘priority’ state government programme. Sources in the department said that though top Forest Department officials have been aware of such violations, they have been turning a blind eye to these as they are unable to pick up the courage to stand up to the government when it comes to protect forest lands in the state.
In the case related to the playground complex, the battle between some ground level forest officials who have opposed its construction, and the Panchayat Raj officials, who under the direction of the Nirmal district administration went ahead with the work, resulted in the seizure of the Kadam Forest Range Officer’s office on the pretext that it had not paid taxes to the local panchayat. Now with the NTCA ordering action, the Forest Department officials have filed charges against panchayat raj officials for violations of forest and wildlife protection laws.
