Obviously, this exposure of the soil will lead to erosion and water runoff. The loss of fodder and firewood forces villagers to move deeper into the forest. Areas of bushy undergrowth such as clerodendron and vishak, which once provided cover for herbivores and birds have largely disappeared and wildlife sightings have become much rarer. Cattle kills by tigers have gone up, causing resentment among locals. The project has been ongoing for the last 10 years.
These forests also act as a corridor for tigers and elephants along the Himalayan foothills connecting Corbett with the Nepal Terai and Bhabar. If the forests surrounding Corbett are destroyed, the future of the park itself will be endangered. Isolated animal populations will ultimately lead to inbreeding and a loss of genetic vibrancy. Moreover, as has proved to be the case in states like Assam, the loss of fodder in these forests will lead to crop raiding and human-elephant conflict, with inevitably fatal results.
The rationale behind this project, as with most World Bank-assisted projects, is to generate economic returns, in this case, from the sale of timber. In the process, the damage done to forests, wildlife, livelihoods and traditional communities is being overlooked. This is the latest in a long series of protests against World Bank projects on environmental grounds.
From the funding of the Sardar Sarovar dam project, which drowned thousands of hectares of forest, the eco-development programme in and around some of India's best Protected Areas and the Bank-funded coal mining expansion in Jharkhand and Bihar, it is quite clear that the Bank cannot be trusted where environmental protection is concerned. Strong protests against the World Bank's coal sector project led to its recent withdrawal, but only after much irreversible damage had been done to wildlife corridors in the Hazaribagh district. The Bank has to date refused to accept responsibility for the damage caused by its operations in the coal belt. The same story must not be repeated in the Kaladhungi case.
Write a letter asking that the Sal Rejuvenation Project in Kaladhungi, Powalgarh and other areas around the Corbett Tiger Reserve be immediatedly halted.
