Shettihalli sanctuary row: CEC to hold talks with forest department

Bengaluru: The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) will hold discussions with the heads of forest and wildlife divisions for two days to find a solution to a 50-year-old row over the boundary of Shettihalli Wildlife Sanctuary in Shivamogga district.

As per the programme schedule of the CEC sent to the forest department, CEC member Satish C Garkoti will hold a meeting with principal chief conservator of forests (Head of Forest Force) Meenakshi Negi and Chief Wildlife Warden Kumar Pushkar on Friday and Saturday to discuss the “discrepancy” in the total area of Shettihalli sanctuary, which has led to “denotification of sanctuary area”.

The government issued a draft notification for the sanctuary in 1974 and the final notification in 1977. While the extent of the area mentioned in the notification was 395.6 sq sqkm, the boundaries declared an area of 696 sq km.

While the state government has maintained that the extent of the sanctuary was 395.6 sqkm, Green Lives Shivamogga, a Shivamogga-based organisation, has approached the CEC, pointing out that the 1977 notification was issued under Section 18 (2) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, which specifically gives primacy to boundary (“limits”) over extent.

The NGO has pointed to the Supreme Court order in Writ Petition 337 of 1995 barring denotification of protected areas and also to the National Board of Wildlife’s instruction that denotification “will only be permitted if an equivalent area is added to the protected area network of the state”.

The state government has said that it has followed the National Board for Wildlife’s (NBWL) direction and added 27.95 sq sqkm (6,908 acres) of forest area to extend the buffer zone of the Bhadra Tiger Reserve as compensation for the rationalisation.

The NGO, however, pointed to the provisions of the law and the Supreme Court order, urging CEC to ensure that the 305 sqkm denotified from the sanctuary earlier be compensated.

‘Error in final notification’

To a question, Pushkar said an error in the final notification has led to confusion.

“The ground situation establishes with clarity that the rationalisation of Shettihalli sanctuary’s boundary is a necessity. We need to rectify the error in the notification. The (forest) department is actively working on increasing the protected area. However, linking that to the Shettihalli issue doesn’t serve conservation,” he added.

Greens see ‘bad precedent’

Sagar-based activist Akhilesh Chipli said that, as per the rules, the government’s move was nothing but the denotification of a sanctuary.

“It is being done in the name of boundary rationalisation. If approved, it will set a bad precedent and will open floodgates for sanctuary denotification cases in the entire country,” he added.