Illegal construction not limited to one part of Corbett: SC panel

DEHRADUN: The central empowered committee (CEC) set up by the Supreme Court, in its supplementary report submitted earlier this month, said that illegal buildings may not be limited to the Kalagarh Tiger Reserve of Corbett, as pointed out in its first report, but may be spread across "other core critical tiger habitats of Corbett - Dhikala, Khinnanauli, Gairal and Dhangarhi Gate in particular".
In its report, a copy of which is with TOI, the panel said the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) should examine reports of the other illegal buildings in the tiger reserve.
The report stated: "Many other buildings have been constructed without requisite statutory, administrative or financial approvals in the core critical area of the national park which is extremely disturbing."
The CEC submitted its first report on January 24 and the supplementary was submitted on February 7, in which CEC member Mahendra Vyas, a naturalist who works in the fields of wildlife, forest and environmental policies and laws, is cited holding the forest department and Corbett authorities responsible for "mass corruption in the reserve".
The CEC member, in the report, said, "It is hard to believe that illegalities that have taken place in Corbett were without the knowledge of senior officers posted there or at the headquarters in Dehradun..."
The member pointed out that authorities should have taken "swift action" following the complaint on illegal tree felling some time in mid-2021, "but it was not done until 19.9.2021 when a news item on the front page of The Times of India about the felling of thousands of trees, was published".
On February 13, the SC accepted the report and has now sought a response from MoEFCC, NTCA and the Uttarakhand government.