Uttarakhand: Supreme Courts Halts Tiger Safaris at Jim Corbett

GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court has prohibited Tiger Safaris in the main areas of Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand.

According to the ruling, tiger safaris will now only be allowed in the outer and buffer zones of the reserve forest.

The matter reached the Court following a petition by environmental activist and lawyer Gaurav Bansal, who contested the Uttarakhand government's plan to establish a tiger safari, which was intended as a specialized zoo with caged animals, at Jim Corbett National Park.

The court also instructed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), already investigating the case, to submit its status report within three months.

Furthermore, the court set up a committee to study if tiger safaris could be allowed in the outer areas of national parks across the country.

In addition to banning tiger safaris, the Supreme Court also criticized former Uttarakhand Forest Minister Harak Singh Rawat and former Divisional Forest Officer Kishan Chand for permitting illegal construction and tree felling at the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve.

A bench led by Justice BR Gavai stated that in this case, bureaucrats and politicians had disregarded the public trust doctrine.

Criticizing the former forest minister and divisional forest officer, the bench remarked, “They (Rawat and Chand) have blatantly disregarded the law and, for commercial gain, engaged in widespread tree felling to construct buildings under the guise of promoting tourism.”

The Supreme Court noted that the collusion between politicians and forest officials has led to significant environmental damage in pursuit of political and commercial interests.

Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate raided the homes of Rawat and Chand regarding unauthorized construction within the tiger reserve.

Earlier this year, the SC had disapproved of the National Tiger Conservation Authority’s (NTCA) proposal to establish a tiger safari resembling a zoo within the Jim Corbett National Park.

The court stressed the importance of prioritizing an "animal-centric" approach over a "tourism-centric" one.