Subject:  Denotification of Great Himalayan National Park 

which
appeared in The Hindu's sunday magazine on 9-1-2000 is reproduced below. The
same can be accessed at http://www.the-hindu.com/stories/1309041i.htm

Thanks
Subramaniam
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One of the most shocking cases of denotification is that of 10 sq. km. of
the Great Himalayan National Park on May 28 last year for a hydro-electric
project. The park is home to a host of endangered plants and animals. With
the Government's turnaround, the core area of the park will be disturbed by
extensive movement of men and material for the project. USHA RAI makes out a
case for protecting existing reserves. 

THE threat to the country's national parks and sanctuaries continues
unabated. But the worst kind of desecration of a protected area is its
denotification. It takes years of planning and preparation before an area is
declared protected because it is home to various endangered species of
wildlife and is rich in biodiversity. But denotification takes much less
time and effort once a powerful business house or the State itself sets its
eyes on a sanctuary or national park for so called "development". This could
be for mining or even setting up an irrigation project or a dam. 

Human greed backed by an unabated pressure of human population is taking its
toll on the green reserves of the country at an astonishing pace. According
to information available with Ashish Kothari who brings out a comprehensive
Protected Areas Update, there are currently 18 protected areas that have
been denotified/ deleted or proposed for denotification and under the
process of settlement of rights for protected areas. These include the Pabho
Sanctuary and the Bordoibarm Bilmukh Bird Sanctuary (Assam), Jessore
Wildlife Sanctuary, Balaram Ambajee Wildlife Sanctuary, Dharangadra Wild Ass
Sanctuary, Kutch Desert Sanctuary and the Marine National Park (Gujarat),
the Great Himalayan National Park, the Sangla Wildlife Sanctuary, the Lippa
Asrang Wildlife Sanctuary and the Rupo Bhabha Sanctuary (Himachal Pradesh),
the Madhav National Park, Sanjay National Park, Bhagwan Mahavir Sanctuary
and Son Gharial Sanctuary (Madhya Pradesh) and Tadobha Andhari Tiger
Reserve, Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary and Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary
(Maharashtra). 

One of the most shocking cases of denotification is that of 10 sq. km of the
Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) on May 28 last year for construction of
the 2051 mega watts Parbati hydro electric in Kulu District. In fact the
Park was notified just a couple of years ago and in his letter of March 7,
1994 declaring his intention to constitute the National Park, the then
Governor of Himachal Pradesh had stated that the area is of great
ecological, faunal, flora, geomorphological and geological importance. The
turn around is therefore more shocking. All of a sudden the important area
of the Jiwa Valley seems to have lost its ecological value and is being
excluded from the National Park. 

Half a dozen environment and conservation related organisations like INTACH
Regional Chapter, Himachal Pradesh, Dhauladhar Public Education Society of
Kangra district, the Chipko Soochana Kendra, Chamba, the Shimla Initiative
for Nature, Environment and Wildlife, Kalpavriksh Environment Action Group,
Pune and the Himalayan Nature and Environment Preservation Society have
written to the Prime Minister, the Environment and Forest Minister and the
Himachal Chief Minister complaining that this change of heart is
"incomprehensible" and "unacceptable". 

Though the stated reason for the denotification of the Jiwa Valley from the
National Park is the settlement of rights of the people of Kundar and
Manjhan villages, the main intention seems to be to facilitate the Parbati
hydel project. 

The GHNP is home to a host of critically endangered plants and animals like
the Serow, the Himalayan Tahr, the Chir Pheasant, the Musk Deer and the
Western Tragopan which has been listed in the Red Data Book of the
International Union for Conservation of Nature. In fact the Western Tragopan
is limited to the Western Himalayas and the GHNP is one of the two National
Parks in the world that supports the bird. The Park falls within one of the
globally important endemic bird areas. One hundred and eighty- three bird
species have been recorded in the park. This is one of the few national
parks that was established after detailed scientific and ecological
investigations by a team of internationally reputed scientists and experts. 

The Ibex and snow leopard can also be found in this 755 sq.km park situated
between 2,000 m and 5,500 m above sea level. In addition the park has a
dozen rare medicinal plants with tremendous export potential and at least
one variety of incense. In this park can also be found Yew trees (Taxus
baccata) which has tremendous commercial value. According to research done
by Shukla and others, a 20-year-old yew tree from the park can yield upto 30
kg of leaves and 5 kg of bark to produce four grams of taxol worth $10,000
in the American market. New finds in the pharmaceutical industry have
encouraged the commercialisation of medicinal herbs and animal products,
providing fresh impetus for harvesting of these plants by the local people. 

The northern and eastern boundaries of the park are under permanent snow,
while the southern boundary is along a high ridge and almost impassable.
There are no roads to the park and the western boundary is approachable only
along bridle paths through rugged terrain along the Parbati, Jiwa, Sainj and
Tirthan rivers. 

It was the GHNP's relative inaccessibility that made it easier to protect
than some other areas of comparable ecology. Now, however, all this may be
compromised. While the part of the national park that has been denotified
will be directly and adversely affected by the activities of the Parbati
river valley project, the core area of the park will also be disturbed by
the extensive movement of men and material for the project work. 

In addition there will be the pressure of local people who use the park for
grazing their livestock and collecting herbs and mushrooms. About 35,000
sheep and goats graze in the park in the summer months and about 2,500
people collect herbs from August to October and mushrooms from April to
June. Most villagers using the park have agreed to give up herb collection
and livestock grazing in the park if other means of income generation are
available. A large number of trees continue to be cut in the area, mainly to
satisfy the demand for timber for house construction and repair by those who
have traditionally held this right to a forest resource. 

Various environment groups, concerned about development of the State, do not
want biodiversity or ecological security of the State sacrificed at the
altar of development. 

There are reports coming in from other parts of Himachal Pradesh of moves to
denotify other sanctuaries and areas of ecological value. In fact ever since
the denotification of the Darlaghat wildlife sanctuary in 1991 for the
setting up of the Ambuja cement plant. Himachal Pradesh has acquired
notoriety for its treatment of protected areas. 

In fact, Himachal Pradesh is the ideal place for tapping power through
small, micro hydel, run of the mill projects that will cause minimum damage
of any kind.