A recent investigation into the Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary lends support to the boundary reduction exercise by the state government
THE Gujarat legislature passed a bill
in July 1995, reducing the area of the
Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary in Kutch,
Gujarat, to 444.23 sq krn from the earlier notified 765.79 sq km. Narayan
Sarovar, famous for chinkaras, has
become the battle ground for developmentalists and conservationists over the
last few years, since rich lignite and
limestone deposits were found within the sanctuary.
Recent findings from independent
investigations carried out by P M
Bhargava, a senior scientist with the
Indian Institute of Chemical
Technology, Hyderabad, and his
colleague Chandana Chakrabarti, also
support the government's steps for
reducing the sanctuary boundary.
They surveyed the sanctuary from June 27 to 28.
Their report states that large
tracts of forest land marked as sanctuary, was actually degraded with very
few trees and no scrub vegetation
either. The report concludes that "there
seemed to be nothing unusual about
the flora in the sanctuary area that
would make it distinctive enough
and justify a sanctuary on the basis of
its flora." Bhargava and Chakrabarti
point out that villagers dwelling inside
'- ---- -a, Ila- PQtimnted the
number of chinkaras to a maximum of
around 100 at present. And there
are only 2 streams in the sanctuary serving as water sources for the animals. The soil of the sanctuary area is not conducive to high agricultural yields. The
villagers also face severe fuel and water
scarcity. Hence, the report conclude,
that the initial declaration of the Sanctary area was done without proper investigations, and that its boundary should
be reduced keeping out the parts rich in
mineral resources. It proposes that the
sanctuary area be fenced off and adequate food and water sources be mad,
available to the animals.
Interestingly, the report lays down
certain protocols for setting up of ary
industry in the sanctuary area, based on
dialogues between the villagers and the
investigators. Among several suggetions, the protocols envisage employment with fair wages; provisions , electricity, water and education, head and medical care; sustainable partnership with the local people and con C
for the environment.
At present, the poor villagers
not have any stake in the management of the sanctuary. It is possible
they might welcome limestone lignite mining in the area in hope employment.
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