SC bans tourism in core areaes of tiger reserves
In order to conserve the big cat, the Supreme Court today directed that there shall be no tourism activity in any of the core zones of tiger reserves across the country. A Bench of Justices Swatanter Kumar and Ibrahim Kalifulla also warned of contempt proceedings and imposition of exemplary costs on states which failed to notify the buffer zones in their respective tiger reserves. The apex court was also furious that several states despite its earlier directions of April 4 and July 10, had failed to notify the buffer zones in their respective reserves. The court further warned that if they failed to comply the order within three weeks, the defaulting states shall be saddled with a cost of 50,000 rupees each, recoverable from the Principal Secretary, Forest of the state concerned.
The apex court also imposed a cost of 10,000 rupees each on Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Maharashtra and Jharkhand for not complying with its directions. The Court was hearing a PIL filed by a conservationist demanding removal of commercial tourism activities from core or critical tiger habitats in the tiger reserves.