HC revokes ban on movement of people on tiger reserve route

The Chhattisgah High Court today revoked the ban on the movement of people on the Kota-Keochi road that passes through the Achanakmar Tiger Reserve in Bilaspur district in the state.
A single bench of Justice Sanjay K Agrawal passed the order while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by former MLA Dharamjeet Singh and three others to allow free movement of public on the Kota-Keochi state highway road, petitioners' lawyer Satischandra Verma said.
Last year, Bilaspur district collector had ordered to ban the movement of public on this route citing safety of wild animals and rules of Tiger Reserve.

In the order, the collector had also mentioned that passersby pose threat to wildlife, the lawyer said.
Later, Janata Congress Chhattisgarh leader Dharamjeet Singh and three others filed the PIL seeking to open the road for traffic, he said.
The petitioners had contended that tribals and villagers residing in the tiger reserve area face serious trouble in lack of means of transportation, he said.

The PIL mentioned that the residents of the region had to walk for several kilometres for medical facilities, education and daily needs and it was their constitutional right to move freely in any territory of the country, he said.

The HC, while directing to open the road for free flow of the people, observed that the article 19 (1) d of the Indian Constitution provides right to citizen to move freely to any territory of India unless he/she has breached any provision of law, Verma said.
The court turned down the order of Bilaspur district administration saying that the provisions of law, which were applied by the district collector in the present case were not applicable and the collector is not the authority to invoke these powers, he added.