Evict all illegal occupants from core zone of Corbett Tiger Reserve :HC

The Uttarakhand High Court has asked the state government to take stepswithin three weeks for eviction of all unauthorised occupants from government buildings at Kalagarh which comes under the core zone of the Corbett Tiger Reserve.

On a PIL challenging a government notification demarcating the buffer and core zones of Corbett Tiger Reserve on Saturday, the division bench of Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Lokpal Singh directed the Chief Secretary to take steps for the eviction of unauthorised occupants from government buildings at Kalagarh within three weeks.

The court also asked the directors of Corbett and Rajaji Tiger reserves to preserve the viscera of tigers dying unnaturally and videograph their post-mortem besides having inquiries conducted into their deaths by the Sub Divisional Magistrates concerned.

The court also directed the State Government to install CCTVs and deploy drones to prevent illegal poaching.

Taking stern view of a PIL filed by an illegal occupant of a residence in Kalagarharea challenginga government notification demarcating buffer and core areas of Corbett Tiger Reserve, the court imposed a fine of Rs five lakh on the petitioner.

Calling Vishwanath Singh, the petitioner, an illegal resident of Kalagarh area, the division bench held that he could not be privy to such a PIL as he himself is a defaulter.