BENGALURU: With wildlife activists crying hoarse that the ‘Canopy Walk’ in Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary is illegal, the forest department says appropriate action will be taken soon.
For creating awareness about wildlife and enhancing tourism activity inside the sanctuary, a ‘canopy walk’ was built between Doodhsagar Water Falls and Kuveshi in the densely wooded areas of Castlerock Range. But in the process, forest officials of Canara Circle failed to take the permission of the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW).
Replying to an RTI query, the office of the PCCF Wildlife, Karnataka, has admitted that they have not given permission to carry out the canopy walk project for which the tourism department has spent `84 lakh. The construction, which began in March, 2016 was completed in November.
Demanding action against forest officials, wildlife activist Manoj said, “This project needs permission of the wildlife boards as well as the Regional Empowered Committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. In March, 2016, the Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) of Canara Circle too gave the approval to start the activity.
However, shockingly neither the director of Kali Tiger Reserve nor the CCF bothered to get the necessary permission from CWW under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 to start this activity. But what is more shocking is - both of them sent a progress report of the project to then PCCF Wildlife and Head of Forest Force.”
Speaking to Express, Additional PCCF (Wildlife) C Jayaram said, “A decision is yet to be taken but appropriate action will be taken soon. However, permission was not sought from the CWW, which is not correct. I have gone through the maps and looked into the issue thoroughly. This is almost 1,345 sq km of protected area where Kali Tiger Reserve with its buffer area is 1,097 sq km while Dandeli willife sanctuary is about 248 sq km. The Canopy Walk is in Dandeli limits and so needs permission. But since it is not in a tiger reserve, permission is not needed from the wildlife boards or the National Tiger Conservation Authority. The CWW will take a call on this.”
What is canopy walk?
Providing access to the forest canopies, they are nothing but a pedestrian walkway between trees. Popular in Australia, South Africa and South America, this takes one to a height where the unique forest ecosystem is visible at the canopy level. The Dandeli Canopy Walk has been built 30 feet from the ground where one can enjoy the tree top walk for a distance of 233 metres.
The walkway has been divided into 10 inter-connected platforms and each platform can accommodate 8-10 people at a time.