How animal corridors in Kaziranga are violated amid rising anthropocentrism

A wildlife corridor is a narrow strip of land with native vegetation that connects two or more larger areas of forest habitats or fragments for the maintenance of ecological processes. The movement of animals is a natural process. A permeable landscape is mandatory to ensure the same, the ability of certain species to mate, maintain the biodiversity and most importantly not to disturb the ecological cycle. Studies show traces of such movement can be traced as back as 6000 years ago in North America where a herd of pronghorn (an American sheep) migrated through such a corridor.

But off late we have observed that disturbance in the form of anthropogenic activities have wreaked havoc and disturbed the entire cycle. One such incident can be seen in the construction of a huge building on the Kanchanjuri Animal Corridor of Kaziranga National Park (KNP) which was in strict violation of the orders of the Supreme Court. RTI- cum-environmental activist Rohit Choudhury has championed the cause, and done whatever is necessary to bring the issue to the notice of the authorities such as Central Empowered Committee. It was clearly laid down by the Supreme Court that no new construction was allowed on private lands which formed a part of the nine identified corridors of KNP.

In the wake of the incident Mr Amarnatha Shetty, the Honourable secretary of the panel had asked the Chief Wildlife Warden M.K Yadava to furnish a report related to the illegal construction of the permanent structure which is not only a threat to the movement of animals in the corridor but a poses a potential risk of overall ecological imbalance. The Kanchanjuri corridor is of outmost vitality because it along with other similar corridors are used as a form of bridge to by animals to move to safer or higher places to avoid the fury of nature, because with the onset of monsoon when it rains it literally ‘pours’ and the incessant rains pave the way natural disasters such as floods, erosion etc which is a common scenario in Assam.

There are a lot of adverse effects associated with it such as imbalance in the food chain which could further lead to vegetation loss, loss of large predators could lead to exaggerating smaller animals such as mice, raccoons which could further lead to serious problems such as crop damage due to disturbance in the movement cycle. We should not forget about the past incident in Numaligarh Refinery where four elephants had died while trying to cross an illegal wall construction in the No Development Zone which is located at a close proximity to the Kaziranga National Park.

Also read: Is constitutional morality eroding after Rajasthan fiasco?

International Scene

Multiple negative effects such as barriers to wildlife movement, habitat loss and fragmentation, change in plant and wildlife composition, is reflected due to such activities. As per a study spearheaded by a Senior Natural Resource Scientist Lori Hennings and her team, it was highlighted that reptiles and amphibians are particularly vulnerable to road effects and some species may experience high mortality when migrating to or from breeding areas. Scholars from University of Arizona have stated that most corridor friendly road policy is to avoid any new construction in a wildlife corridor. Such Corridors have been globally recognized which can be inferred from initiatives such as ‘Tiger Forever Projects’ connecting Himalayan nations such as Bhutan, Nepal etc or the initative taken by Russia and China in the form of bi-national China-Russia genetic Tiger Corridor catering to the Siberian Tigers population.

India is also not far behind with initiatives such as Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) (https://www.cepf.net/ ) which identified five large corridors. But what is the reason that such an incident has taken place irrespective of set laws, rules and guidelines? Officials of the civil administration of Nagaon District, KNP and TR, Eastern Assam Wildlife Division, Nagaon (Territorial) Division and Police department are in the limelight currently and are answerable as species such as Indian elephants and tigers use the patch for their movements.

Places such as New South Wales have been a success story when it comes to corridor management with the concerted effort of all the stakeholders they have been able to provide specific habitat resources and ecological needs, particularly of the threatened species (For example Koalas) and also Tallow wood trees where the Koalas feed.  A report by WWF has stated that the existing legal provisions such as the Environment Protection Act 1986, Wildlife Protection Act and the Biodiversity Act etc are all effective but mostly remain dormant when it comes to dealing with such issues. Under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers act and Forest Rights Act the recognized forest communities are empowered to protect, regenerate and also powers are vested with the Gram Sabha to manage the forests and especially the community forest resources (CFR) can be used by the local communities to protect the corridors.

Indian priors

It was witnessed in Tadoba Tiger reserve that Mining projects led to cutting off a critical corridor in the area. As had been propounded by researcher Monica Bond merely having a corridor is not enough it should be wide enough as wide as possible, any form construction activity which may form impediments to movement and multiply harmful edge effect should be stopped, and if construction is permitted near the corridor then conservation easements should be provided adjacently to prohibit structures near the corridor. She has further gone on to say that careful planning and design can help reduce the negative repercussions of habitat fragmentation and has also vouched for target monitoring activities.

We can take another example from down South being that of the Mysore-Nilgiri Corridor it covers almost three states and even historically Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve Tiger reserve linked with the forest has suffered huge loss due to expansion of farming and human settlements. (https://core.ac.uk/reader/228319570) However if we add a social angle to solve the issue it shall be much convenient, the local people should participate in the conservation process, most of the private lands are converted into forest land so as to promote the idea of corridor but due to a lack of synergy between ecological and social knowledge there has been a huge loss of biodiversity, wildlife etc and all the stakeholders such as researchers, legislators etc should come up with a remedy to conserve the stagnated or sorry state of affair of animal corridor.

The way forward

We cannot continue with such lackadaisical attitude anywhere and specially in the case of KNP as apart from being a major tourist destination of the state it is a abode from various endangered species and especially rare species such as One Horned Rhinoceros. Hence the authorities should take stock of the situation and do what needs to be done at the earliest.  However we have seen that the court had understood the gravity of the situation while pronouncing the judgment, and it can be reflected from the very fact that not only illegal construction activities were banned but they had also made laid down mandates keeping in mind the ecological viability of the area such as setting a proximate distance for the Numaligarh Refinery, defining the ambit of No- Development Zone, giving paramount importance to elephant movements and their migration activities understanding about the preservation of gene pool. As of now the authorities don’t have to pull out a rabbit out of the hat, following the court’s order is no herculean task but correction is to be made at the earliest and delay will further frustrate the purpose.

As of now the Apex court is determined to stick by its orders given on April 12, 2019 ‘No new construction shall be permitted on private land which forms part of the nine identified animal corridors of Kaziranga National Park (KNP), Assam’, and have been all ears to activist Rohit Choudhury’s contention that the corridors are the ‘lifeline’ of various species. And the Supreme Court has further asked the Chief Wildlife Warden to submit a ‘factual report’. However a quick action is just what the doctor has ordered, with reports of encroachment at Amguri Debera Chang Gaon also flying in, which is nefariously being carried out by clearing jungles and fences. The authorities will have to up the ante or pull up the socks because the entire belt has already been hit hard by flood which has resulted in loss of lives of various species as well. The authorities have beefed up vigilance related to the speed limits for vehicle passing through the animal corridor, already a lot of animals have died amidst the flood situation and the authorities will have to make some concrete plans to avoid such menace.

About the author - Prakreetish Sarma. He is currently practising as an Advocate in Gauhati High Court, completed graduation in law from National Law University and Judicial Academy Assam. He is a Guest Columnist in Inside Northeast. Interests are playing football, badminton, interested in cooking, discovering new places and going for trekking and into social work. Email- prakreetish.sarma@gmail.com

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