Adjacent to it are the colonies of new Kalagarh, a mini township of 2,600-odd houses, a school, a college and an irrigation engineering academy. These staff colonies, spread over roughly 150 ha. of Corbett, were set up during the 1970s and '80s by the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department, which has not vacated the land despite a high court order in 1999. Curiously, the Uttarakhand government and the Corbett management seem to be in no hurry to break the status quo.
In August 1966, the Forest Department of undivided Uttar Pradesh handed over around 9,000 ha. of Corbett National Park to the Irrigation Department for the Ramganga hydel project on the condition that the “land to be transferred will remain reserved forest and revert to the Forest Department when no more required by the Irrigation Department, without any compensation".
The Ramganga dam and reservoir drowned more than 81 sq. km. of the park. But why does the Irrigation Department still require 1,560 houses spread over 1.5 sq. km. to house its staff? A site inspection commissioned by the Supreme Court in 2003 concluded that the project required only 187 staff in all. Factoring in the back-up staff, the number may add up to 300-400 or about 20-25 per cent of the families residing in the colonies inside the national park. The rest are retired staff, encroachers or those who illegally bought the houses from irrigation staff when they left the site.
The presence of this mini township inside Corbett and the unhindered movement of vehicles create law and order problems such as illicit entry, removal of biomass and even crimes against wildlife. The presence of domestic livestock spreads disease and has resulted in inter-breeding with wild species, particularly boars, while loudspeakers and firecrackers scare away the animals. But the biggest worry for conservationists has been the blockage of elephant corridors. The Ramganga dam and reservoir, the 2003 BNHS report pointed out, have virtually divided the tiger reserve into two halves. As a result, the east-west movement of the elephants has been greatly affected and the herds have to either go north of the reservoir and climb the hills or move south below the Ramganga dam and the powerhouse to cross the river.
Since 1999, the legal and political movement to remove the encroachers has dawdled, while the 4,000-odd residents of the illegal township thrive. The matter is complex, as many of these locals have a stake in the land.
Author & Source: Jay Mazoomdar, Tehelka, December 22, 2012, Issue 52 Volume 9.
