Govt asked to amend tiger tourism norms by September 27

The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended the prohibition on tiger tourism in 41 reserves till September 27 and gave the government another month to come up with amended guidelines to protect the depleting wild cat.

A bench headed by Justice A K Patnaik had imposed the ban last month taking cognizance of a public interest petition which had claimed the tiger population has come down to 1,200 from 13,000.

According to an environment ministry official, the next course of action would be decided after going through the finer details of the order. However, sources said the ministry is likely to form an expert committee to give recommendations on the amendments that are required to be made.

The court had banned any form of tourism in the core areas to aid conservation efforts and had asked tour operators to approach the government with their grievances about the loss of income and possible unemployment.

The government had filed an affidavit in August, stating it wants to review eco-tourism guidelines on the basis of which the ban has come about. The government contended the states have expressed concern about the impact of the ban on people, including tribals living in reserves who depend on tourism for their livelihood.

According to Ashok Kumar, vice-chairman of WildLife Trust of India, "Tourism is good for wildlife, but when regulated. There are excesses in certain areas. For example, in Corbett Park within two km area there are too many resorts housed close to each other. That kind of problem is not there in the Sunderbans. So the amended rules should identify this reserve specific issues and frame rules accordingly."

During the hour-long hearing, the bench asked the Centre whether the existing tiger conservation guidelines envisage a complete ban on all activities inside core areas. The Centre submitted the rules did not envisage a complete ban, rather provided for 20 per cent activities inside the core areas.