NEW DELHI: The ‘in-principal’ approval given to declare the Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) in Rajasthan as a tiger reserve has triggered a controversy.
The Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary is located on the fringes of the Aravalli mountain range and is home to indigenous tribes like Bhil, Garasia and the nomadic Raika pastoralists, who are against the idea of declaring it as a tiger reserve as they fear displacement. Moreover, there is no documented history of the tiger population in the Kumbhalgarh forest.
India’s apex tiger conservation body, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), has declared two more tiger reserves in Rajasthan. It has taken the total tally of the country’s tiger reserve to 55. It gave final approval to Dholpur-Karauli Tiger Reserve, besides the ‘in-principal’ approval to KWS as a tiger reserve.
“It is a big day in the tiger conservation efforts in Rajasthan’s history,” Shikhar Agarwal, additional chief secretary of the department of environment, forest and climate change, told this newspaper.
He said that the ‘in-principal’ approval of the Kumbhalgarh tiger reserve means that a committee will soon be formed and assess the requirements of the reserve to make it suitable for the wild cats. Union minister of environment, forest and climate change Bhupendra Yadav has also appreciated the move to declare KWS as a tiger reserve.
In a social media post, Yadav said that it will boost employment opportunities for the region’s people through ecotourism.
However, experts say that there is no documented history of the presence of tigers in Kumbhalgarh.
“How can we have a tiger reserve where no tigers exist and there are no connectivity corridors to other tiger reserves?” said Meenal Tatpati, a forest rights lawyer who prepared a report on the violation of laws and processes in experimenting with the tiger conservation model in KWS.
“It would be detrimental in terms of tribal displacement and loss of the community’s livelihood,” she said. “Last year, they passed a village council resolution against the idea of declaring the forest as a tiger reserve and submitted a memorandum to the Rajasthan chief minister, environment and forest minister and district collector,” said Jagdish Paliwal, a local activist working with these communities.
KWS is known for Indian wolves, four-horned antelope and leopards, but has never been part of any tiger corridor. The forest supports farms and livestock of 162 villages located inside and outside KWS.
Incidentally, Diya Kumari, Member of Parliament from Rajsamand, belongs to Kumbhalgarh region.
She is also a member of NTCA and has been pushing the case of declaring the Kumbhalgarh forest as a tiger reserve to create employment opportunities through ecotourism.
‘No tigers at kumbhalgarh’
List of Tiger reserves in Rajasthan
Newly approved
Controversy around Kumbhalgarh