The Uttarakhand high court has ordered a stay on the State wildlife board’s decision to denotify the Shivalik elephant reserve- the State’s sole elephant reserve. Hearing on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Dehradun resident Reenu Paul, the high court division bench of chief justice RS Chauhan and justice Lok Pal Singh issued notices to the State and Central governments, biodiversity board and the wildlife board seeking their response.
In her petition, Paul has stated that the Shivalik elephant reserve was one of the major 11 elephant reserves notified under project elephant. Spread across six districts, this elephant reserve was to be denotified by the state government. The decision to denotify the elephant reserve was taken in the meeting of the state wildlife board on November 24 last year and made public on the same day. Citing various documents, the petitioner pointed out that since elephants travel long distances, this elephant reserve is of vital importance for the survival of elephants.
It is pertinent to mention here that the State government had decided to denotify the Shivalik elephant reserve in order to facilitate the expansion of the Dehradun airport. While some had welcomed the plan to expand the airport, the decision to denotify the elephant reserve had also elicited considerable opposition from environmentalists and concerned citizens.
