Environmentalists are enthused over the serious view taken by the division bench of the Hyderabad High Court of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed against the laying of a tar road through the Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary (KWLS) in their struggle to prevent the laying of roads into wildlife habitats in both the Telugu states.
The petitioner Imran Siddiqui told The Hindu that the bench had asked the Krishna district administration to stop the work on the road and inform the court whether it secured the permission from the Supreme Court for the work.
The Supreme Court made it mandatory to follow procedures for taking up any non-forestry activity in wildlife habitats. According to the procedure, permission had to be taken from the Supreme Court, State and Central Wildlife Boards to take up “non-forestry” activity. Both the Andhra Pradesh and the Telangana Governments seem to have scant respect for guidelines set by the Supreme Court, he said.
Environmental activist T. Pathanjali Sastry, who has been fighting for the protection of Ramsar Wetland, Kolleru Wildlife Sanctuary, said more PILs could now be filed to prevent the laying of roads in wildlife habitats like Ramsar Wetland, Kolleru Wildlife Sanctuary, Pulicat Lake and the Gundlabrameswaram Wildlife Sanctuary.
K Mruthyumjaya Rao, former Honorary Wildlife Warden who educated the villagers of Uppalapadu on the need to protecting a colony of Spotbilled Pelican in their drinking water tank, said there was a need to strike a balance. Roads were needed but not at the cost of wildlife and environment.
“Already several roads have been formed into Pulicat Lake. But there was no need for even small villages to be connected,” he said.
Forest Officers have to fend off local leaders trying to make forays into the Kolleru Wildlife Sanctuary on a daily basis. A two-km stretch has been laid from Atapaka to Komatigunta village despite efforts by forest department officials to stop it. They had to face the ire of a former MP in the process. In a more recent confrontation, an Assistant Conservator of Forest had to face the rude behaviour of an MLA when he tried to spot locals from laying a road from Devi Chinthapadu in Krishna district to Pedayaganamalli in West Godavari district.
A temporary bridge across a branch of Kolleru Lake on the way from Alapadu to Kolleti Kota is also not authorised. “We have asked the High Court to give an order stopping attempts to lay road into Krishna, Kolleru, Pulicat and Gundlabrameswaram and a few wildlife habitats in Telangana also. We only want them to follow the rules and get the required permission. Both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Governments are not following rules. It will take at least a year for getting the proper permission,” Mr Siddiqui said.
