Dampa : The Border Road
Strangling
a wildlife rich area
The India Bangladesh Border is to be fenced.
This is the status.
India’s Supreme Court has set up a “Coordination Committee” to expedite work on the border fence with Bangladesh. A two-member bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice N Fali Nariman has set up the committee. It will be headed by Union Home Ministry’s Border Management Secretary and include the Chief Secretary of Assam. This committee will work out all issues related to border fencing. The committee will find out how to complete the fencing work within the stipulated timeframe.
There are some problem areas where work is
pending including the stretch in Mizoram. This is where the Dampa Tiger Reserve (DTR) comes in.
Some stretches of the road are pending
on account of multiple reasons. These include the road under discussion in Mizoram’s
Mamit district; the 57 km stretch from the northern tip at Rajiv Nagar (BP No.-2301/45-S) to the
southern tip at Silsury (BP
No.-2313). The proposed road falling within the
West Phaileng Block will go parallel to Sazuk river and have Bangladesh to its
west and Dampa Tiger Reserve to its east. Since this road will go through the
Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary it warrants multiple clearances.
This is what the Border Security Force
has to say
The BSF officials said in the meeting
that the fencing to be constructed will not cause any effect to wildlife but
rather for linkage with that of the wildlife in Bangladesh, corridor will be
made in 7 places, with 100 metres width each.
This is what the Wildlife Institute of
India (WII) says
DTR has a long
international border with Bangladesh, in the west, and Myanmar, in the east.
The Bangladesh border is porous, and the 70 km border, which is not fenced yet,
is the reason why 'loot-and-scoot' activities from across the border are
feasible. The rest of the border with Bangladesh is guarded by the BSF.
Fencing should be put in
place along the Bangladesh border, over a distance of 62 km, expeditiously to
stop infiltration by poachers as this stretch is the only gap in an otherwise
completely fenced border.
(Mathur, V.B., R. Gopal, S.P. Yadav, H.S. Negi and N.A. Ansari
2014. Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) of Tiger Reserves in India:
Process and Outcomes. National Tiger Conservation Authority and Wildlife
Institute of India, Dehradun, 144p)
The National Press too covered it
In Mizoram, work could not be undertaken along a 60-km stretch in the
Dampa Tiger Reserve owing to pending clearances from the National Board of
Wildlife, which has demanded that the State transfer 1,520 hectares of
non-forestland in compensation.
The matter went to the National Board for
Wildlife (NBWL). Some snippets from their website
Standing
Committee Meeting – 25th April, 2011
A. The area needs to be reworked since
the total area to be diverted from Dampa Tiger Reserve amounts to almost 1,500
ha instead of 69.26 ha as originally estimated. Hence, a detailed survey needs
to be undertaken by the BSF along the entire 62 Kms stretch and involving
representatives of the State Government/Dampa Tiger Reserve
B. The requisite forest clearance under
the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 should be obtained only after the exact
area is worked out.
C. The patrol road and the border
outposts should be on the Bangladesh side of the three line fencing to ensure
that the habitat of Dampa Tiger Reserve inside the fencing remains sacrosanct
and free of disturbance.
D. The diverted forest land from Dampa Tiger
Reserve should be compensated by adding an equivalent amount of land to the
said tiger reserve elsewhere or to another Park or Sanctuary in Mizoram.
E. Other mitigation measures and
conditions (including no stone quarrying and dumping of debris) laid down by
the State Government/Chief Wildlife warden/CEC would also need to be complied
with.
Standing
Committee Meeting, 20th March, 2013
A. Dr
M.K. Ranjitsinh observed that the proposed inner fence was smaller and had
fewer strands than the outer (border) fence and suggested that the inner fence
proposed should also be equally strong, 32 feet rather than single line fence,,
as has been proposed now. He desired that his opinion should be communicated to
the State Board for Wildlife as well.
B. Dr
A.J.T Johnsingh opined that the inner fence behind the post should be enough to
ensure separation of the tiger reserve from the patrol tracks without causing
much negative impact on wildlife.
Dampa
is turning out to be a good example on how to strangle a Biodiversity rich area
– Oil palm on one hand and road on the other.
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