By Green Minute News
Green Minute News : With the state government failing to respond on the issue of granting permission (under Sec 29 of WPA, 1972) for geo-technical studies in the Sharavathi Valley Lion Tailed Macaque (LTM) Sanctuary, the Karnataka High Court has extended its stay on KPCL’s survey work in this protected area till the fourth of next month. The State had permitted drilling of 12 boreholes in a Sanctuary which is the only remaining contiguous habitat in the world for the critically endangered LTMs (old-world monkeys) that are sparsely distributed across the Western Ghats.
The Chief Justice directed that all survey work and geo-technical investigations by KPCL in the Sharavathi Valley LTM Sanctuary will be stayed till November 4th. Further, the Court made serious observations about the conduct of the state while granting permission under Section 29 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. There appears to be no application of mind on the part of the state, the Chief Justice observed.
“This Stay will continue as the CJ was not satisfied with the response of the State Government,” said petitioner’s advocate Sreeja Chakraborty. On his part, the Advocate General submitted that the State Government will consider the issue of Section 29 of WPA and the geo-technical survey permission in its entirety and then return to the High Court.
Santosh Martin, wildlife conservationist and the petitioner said, “It is a big day for the Lion tailed Macaques and the rain forests of Western Ghats. The Court has made serious observations about the conduct of the state even as it gave permission under Section 29 for the survey.”
Earlier, on May 6th, this year, the chief wildlife warden had granted permission to KPCL for carrying out geo-technical studies and investigations that included drilling of 12 boreholes by following 10 conditions. These boreholes were to be dug in the Sharavathi Valley which is a unique Climatic Climax Forest Ecosystem akin to the Amazon forests of Brazil.
Further, the LTM which are found nowhere else in the world except in 3-4 pockets in the Western Ghats are critically endangered arboreal mammals. Presently, there numbers have drastically reduced to 2500-3000 in the states of Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Kerala. Unfortunately, the project site of the 2000 MW Sharavathi Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Project falls in the southern side of the river where LTMs have been recorded and sighted frequently by forest officials and wildlife researchers.
Main Photo Credit : Kartik Patil