BANDIPUR: The forest department’s move to declare an eco-sensitive zone in Bandipur National park covering 912 sq km got a shot in the arm with a majority of the stakeholders favouring a ban on the mushrooming of resorts, quarrying and mining activities inside the park.At an interaction with senior forest officials, elected representatives and other stake-holders, including farmers and environmentalists held here on Thursday, the consensus that was arrived at was that permits must not be given for installing ropeways and stone-crushing units and encroachments of elephant corridors must be dealt with sternly.However, the farmers also castigated the regulations to farming, such as stipulating the nature of crops to be grown, or curbs on poultry and livestock farming in over 165 villages in Zones 1 and 2 of the Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary. While demanding a clarification on other related issues, they demanded a legislation that would permit them to cut trees inside farms within a month after applying for permission. We will not give up our rights, they chorused, while urging the authorities to give them a patient hearing before announcing a final draft on the eco-sensitive zone.One Vivek Cariyappa said: “The government should not permit the coming up of new resorts; existing resorts in the Bandipur National Park must be taxed. While blaming forest officials for the present scenario, he said the officials must go beyond serving notices and ensure that work is stopped in such resorts.The farmers opposed the move to start nurseries in both zones and wanted the government to restrict the buffer zones instead of imposing restrictions in villages.Chief Conservator of Forests, Mysore Division, B J Hosmat, observed that the man-animal conflict was largely exacerbated by the encroachment of elephant corridors in the region. “The elephant corridors, of width ranging from 500-900 m, that connect the Western Ghats to the Eastern Ghats via the B R Hills, Sathyamanagalam Forests, Bandipur and Nagarahole, have been encroached upon by farm owners in Kaniyapura,” he said.He said that farm houses were constructed with compound walls and solar fencing after purchasing land from the locals. “Should this trend continue, farmers who dispose their land to outsiders will soon find themselves in trouble.”“The TN government, upon directions of Madras High Court, has decided to evict encroachments from the Masinagudi Elephant Corridor,” he said.
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