Eco-activists to drag JLR into court over 'illegal' resorts

Environmentalists are planning to drag the state-owned Jungle Lodges and Resorts (JLR) into court in a week, contending that it does not have necessary permissions to operate its properties in various forests of Karnataka. They will file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the High Court. 

Information obtained under the Right To Information (RTI) Act has revealed that eight resorts of JLR were neither given permission by the State Board of Wildlife (SBWL) or the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL), nor have they got the approval of the Supreme Court. 

Thus, as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and those given by the top court in 2012, these resorts must be shut down or shifted out if they have not obtained permission, Santosh Martin, former honorary wildlife warden, Ballari, told Deccan Herald. 

Under the RTI, information was sought about the K Gudi wilderness camp in the BRT Tiger Reserve, the Bheemeshwari Nature Camp, the Galibore and Doddamakali fishing camps in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, the Devbagh Beach Resort in Karwar, the River Tern Lodge in Chikkamagaluru district, the JLR in Bannerghatta and the Dubare Elephant Camp in Kodagu district. 

The K Gudi camp was found lacking forest clearances. Bheemeshwari, Galibore and Doddamakali camps do not have permission from the SBWL, the NBWL and the SC. Forest Clearance (FC) wasn’t applied for. Devbagh was not applicable for permission from the SBWL and the NBWL and didn’t apply for FC. River Tern, Bannerghatta and Dubare too do not have FC clearance, Martin claimed. 

As per the MoEF guidelines on taking up non-forestry activities in wildlife habitats and the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, no construction of commercial tourist lodges, hotels, zoos and safari parks can take place inside national parks, tiger reserves and national parks. 

According to Martin, a letter was also written to the Additional Chief Secretary, Forest, Ecology and Environment, in December 2014, seeking details of the JLR running resorts inside sanctuaries, national parks and reserve forests without forest clearance from the MoEF and other approvals from the SBWL, the NBWL and the Supreme Court. But no reply was received to date. 

When contacted, Additional Chief Secretary, Forest, Ecology and Environment, M Madan Gopal, promised to take up the matter with the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Vinay Luthra. 

He said JLR properties were launched by converting existing forest guesthouses into resorts and nothing new was constructed. They were launched to promote eco-tourism activities, which is a part of forest activity, he added.