A proposed hotel project in the vicinity of Odisha’s Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR), among the first notified tiger habitats of the country, has raised concern over its location. Green activists flagged the issue citing its proximity, barely 700 metres, from the reserve’s boundary. Though it’s a designated national park, the STR has not yet been notified as an ecologically-sensitive zone (ESZ). It’s the only habitat in the state to have a stable tiger population and so needs robust protection. The ESZ classification is critical because it marks protected areas where some activities are prohibited or regulated, depending on the region’s fragility. In many ESZs, new commercial projects are barred within a kilometre of the protected areas. Not in every case, though. A draft ESZ for Satkosia, Odisha’s second tiger reserve, saw the government propose something drastically different—permission for new commercial hotels within 1 km of its boundary. With the state government trying to push the tourism sector, there is a rush for private hotel and resort projects. In its last single-window clearance meeting, it approved six such projects worth over `400 crore. Many of these are being planned around prime wildlife habitats.
Odisha was among the few states that recorded a marginal increase in forest cover in the latest nationwide survey. A little above 5 percent of the state’s geographical area is marked as protected. These biodiverse hotspots provide immense ecological services to the state and must be preserved at all costs. Building tourism infrastructure is a laudable move to bring in revenues and employment, but those planned near national parks and sanctuaries would sustain only if the wildlife is allowed to thrive and the carrying capacity of the protected area is maintained. The state might feel it has missed the bus so far as wildlife tourism—tiger-spotting, in particular—is concerned, the benefits of which have long been reaped by other states. But it must not be lost on the government that tiger reserves are governed by stringent laws and require stronger conservation efforts. While tourism projects are welcome, critical wildlife habitats must be spared, which is why the ESZs should institute the required safeguards. Odisha must see to it that its protected areas are not compromised for short-term benefits.