Kaziranga locals welcome lifting of tiger tourism ban

JORHAT: Several organizations and residents of Kaziranga on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court's judgment on Tuesday on the withdrawal of the ban on tourism in tiger reserves, saying it was great news for tourists and for the thousands of families who are dependent on the tourism industry for their livelihood.
The apex court on Tuesday lifted its interim ban order of July 24 and permitted tourism in core areas of tiger reserves and sancturaries.
On July 24, the SC had imposed a ban on all tourist activities in the core areas of tiger reserves and on August 29 had extended the ban till September 27. Several organizations and thousands of people in Kaziranga had protested against the order and demanded its withdrawal in the greater interest of tourists and people dependent on the park for their livelihood.
The Kaziranga Suraksha Samiti, an organization formed to fight against this order, welcomed the Supreme Court's judgment and said the apex court has favoured them by passing this remarkable judgment. "We hail the SC's order which lifts the ban on tourist activities in Kaziranga from Wednesday onwards. But it is to be mentioned here that there has been no violation of rules in Kaziranga so far and people living here have been extending full cooperation to the park in conservation of wildlife," said Khanjan Nath, an environment worker and president of the Kaziranga Suraksha Samiti.
He added, "We, as well as 30 other petitioners across the country, had filed a petition to the apex court in September to reconsider the judgment in the greater interest of the tourism industry of Kaziranga. We are grateful that the court heard our plea and passed the judgment in our favour."
The SC, through its Tuesday order has allowed tourism activities in 20 per cent core areas of tiger reserves in the country. Earlier, it was allowed in 10 per cent of the core areas, which is less than 500 sq km. But from now on, tourists will be allowed to enter 20 per cent of the core areas in all reserves like Kaziranga, which covers 430 sq km of the forest area.