Nasir Azam
Srinagar, Oct 21: The standing committee of National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has given its nod for development of judicial infrastructure in a conservation reserve in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.
Documents in possession of news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) lay bare that the proposal for development of infrastructure for the High Court in Jammu was cleared by the panel during its 59th meeting chaired by Union Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Prakash Javedakar on October 5th.
The proposal was put before the NBWL for approval as the project area falls within Bahu conservation reserve and eco-sensitive zone of Ram Nagar Wildlife Sanctuary.
“The proposed area falls within the Bahu Conservation Reserve as well as Eco-Sensitive Zone of Ramnagar Wildlife Sanctuary as the aerial distance of proposed site from the said wildlife sanctuary is 3.75 KM. The total project area is 40.6565 Ha. The State Chief Wild Life Warden has recommended the proposal,” reads minutes of the meeting.
The proposal was already cleared by J&K’s State Board of Wlidlife headed by advisor K Vijay Kumar during its meeting held on 23 October 2019.
After discussions, the standing committee approved the proposal with certain conditions like the proprietary and the legal status of the land shall remain unchanged.
It also directed the user agency to ensure that no harm shall be done to any wildlife species if found accidently in the area.
“The activities shall be liable to periodic check by the department and stoppage of activities shall come into force if it is found that any such provisions are not abided by the user agency,” reads the NBWL’s decision—(KNO)
