This was to enable people to confirm the sighting of a tiger during the shooting of the TV show ‘Man Vs Wild’, said sources.
This was to enable people to confirm the sighting of a tiger during the shooting of the TV show ‘Man Vs Wild’, said sources.
The much-awaited tiger safari project of the Uttarakhand government is under scrutiny after the Forest Survey of India (FSI) report said that over 6000 trees are illegal in Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) against the permission of 163 for Pakhru tiger safari. were ceremoniously cut. The state forest department refuted the FSI’s claims and said that there were some technical issues that needed to be resolved before the report was finally accepted.
The Uttarakhand Forest Department had asked the FSI to ascertain the status of illegal logging in and around Pakhru Tiger Safari. They were asked to estimate the number of trees felled in the illegally cleared area based on the expertise and technology available with the organisation. The Forest Survey Institute was also tasked to scan the Pakhru Tiger Safari and its surrounding area for illegal logging and to analyze any areas within the Kalagarh Tiger Reserve, which were seen exhibiting change in forest cover.
“After compiling the report in about 9 months in Pakhru block, Kalushheed block, Nalkhatta block and Kalagarh block, FSI has made an observation that the area cleared under CTR is estimated to be 16.21 hectares (ha). The estimated trees on the cleared area are 6093 with a lower limit of 5765 and an upper bound of 6421 with a 95% confidence interval and 2.72% standard error, said a senior forest department official in Uttarakhand. be named.
talking HinduVinod Singhal, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of the Forest Force, admitted that the FSI found that 6421 trees were felled illegally. He also said that the forest department had some issues with the FSI report and hence it was not accepted till now.
“Following the preliminary investigation of this report, there are several technical issues that need to be resolved before this report can be accepted. There are many serious and important questions on the tabulation of the number of trees allegedly felled and the sampling technique used to arrive at this number, on which the FSI has been requested to provide more details,” Mr. Singhal said.
He further confirmed that the forest department had permission to cut 163 trees in the safari area, and preliminary investigation found that 97 additional trees were illegally cut in the area.
The case of illegal felling of thousands of trees was exposed by Gaurav Bansal, an environmental activist and lawyer from Delhi. Mr. Bansal has complained to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) alleging that 10,000 trees have been cut in the protected area.
After the NTCA and the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) demanded from the Uttarakhand Forest Department the actual status of the trees felled, he asked the FSI to conduct a survey.
Former Uttarakhand Forest Minister Harak Singh Rawat had laid the foundation stone of Pakhro Tiger Safari to be operated in the Pakhro area of Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) in Lansdowne area of Pauri Garhwal. Spread over an area of 106 hectares, when completed, it will be the first tiger safari in the state with tigers in enclosures to ensure “100% vision”.
While talking to the media, Harak Singh said that during his visit to CTR in 2019, for the shooting of TV program ‘Man vs Wild’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had talked about developing a safari in the area so that people It can be confirmed. Tiger sightings.
Spread over 500 square kilometres, the CTR is home to 230 tigers and has the world’s highest tiger density – 14 tigers per hundred square kilometres.
FSI Director General Anoop Singh could not be contacted even after repeated attempts. Prakash Lakhchaura, deputy DG FSI said that he cannot comment on the forest department’s reservation on the FSI report as he was not aware of the matter.
A senior forest department official said it appeared that the FSI was following the number 10,000 mentioned in the complaint.
“There are several serious and important questions on the tabulation of the number of trees allegedly felled and the sampling technique used to arrive at this number, on which the FSI has been requested to provide further information on which Further information has been requested.”Vinod SinghliPrincipal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief of Forest Force