Reserve area to be reduced to half to accommodate people

MEERUT : The area of the Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary is expected to be reduced to half its present 2,072 sq km after the proposed demarcation of the sanctuary.

A proposal has been sent to the government to exclude populated areas from the sanctuary and it is expected to get clearance soon.

Meerut divisional forest officer (DFO) Rajesh Kumar said that the proposal for demarcation of the sanctuary on a particular approach was prepared on the basis of the report of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) after some individuals approached the National Green Tribunal a few years ago.

These individuals pleaded for a proper demarcation of the sanctuary and apprised the Tribunal about problems being faced by people living in areas which lie under the boundaries of the sanctuary. They demanded populated areas be excluded from the sanctuary because they don’t play any role in the conservation of wildlife and swamp deer.

The approval to the proposal will exclude over 1000 sq km area from the sanctuary after demarcation. The sanctuary is currently spread over in 2,072 sq km area of Bijnor, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Hapur and Bulandshahr districts of the region.

The sanctuary has leopards, pythons, wild boar, flying foxes, jackals along with many other wildlife but it’s widely known for having swamp deer.

Kumar said that WII was directed to prepare a report in this regard and its experts submitted their report in 2019 in which they recommended to exclude 1,094 sq km area from the sanctuary which possesses populated areas and have no significance for conservation activities.

The National Wildlife Board then sought a report from local authorities and forest officials in this regard. District magistrates of all five districts were asked to settle the issue and send a report so that notification for demarcation could be issued.

Kumar said that a proposal had been submitted to the state government in which recommendation for excluding 1,164 sq km area has been suggested and it’s expected to be approved soon.