Cong takes dig at BJP's 'Alwar double engine' over plan to 'redraw' Sariska reserve's boundary

New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday attacked the Centre and Rajasthan governments over the reported plan to redraw the boundaries of the Sariska Tiger Reserve for the reactivation of over 50 mining operations, saying the move would be "ecologically devastating".

The opposition party also said that with the Rajasthan and Union environment ministers both being from Alwar, this "double engine" cannot be supporting such a move.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared on X a media report which claimed that a plan to redraw the boundaries of Rajasthan's Sariska Tiger Reserve is inching closer to approval, paving the way for the reactivation of over 50 mining operations that the Supreme Court had previously ordered shut.

There was no immediate response from the Centre or the Rajasthan government on the claims.

Ramesh pointed out that the Sariska Tiger Reserve near Alwar is an outstanding example of revival.

"The tiger population at Sariska had been reduced to exactly zero by December 2004 thanks to an hyper-active poaching network. This created a nation-wide shock and led to the creation of the Tiger Task Force in April 2005 and to a meeting of Dr. Manmohan Singh with chief wildlife wardens of different states at the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in May 2005," he said in a post in X.

Subsequently the National Tiger Conservation Authority came into being in December 2005 and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau in June 2007, he noted.

Ramesh said thereafter along with the Panna Tiger Reserve, relocation was initiated at Sariska in the face of considerable scepticism from some experts themselves and today the tiger count stands at a historic high of 48.

"Now the boundary of the tiger reserve is about to get redrawn. This will enable 50 mining companies which have been closed down to resume operations," Ramesh claimed.

Getting the full involvement of local communities in the sustainable management of tiger reserves is essential and goes without saying, he asserted.

"But this particular move to reopen the 50 mines (marble, dolomite, limestone, and masonic stone) will adversely impact the tiger habitat, a habitat that has been regenerated in the face of great odds," Ramesh said in his post.

He claimed that the critical tiger habitat will be broken up and compensating for that loss in a buffer area is a solution on paper that may assuage the government's conscience but will be ecologically devastating especially for a tiger population that is insular to begin with.

"The Union Environment Minister is from Alwar. So is the Environment Minister of Rajasthan. Surely this double engine cannot be supporting such corridor fragmentation to benefit the mine owners," Ramesh said.

Ultimately the Supreme Court will have to put its foot down as its own directives are being violated, the Congress leader said.