Delhi High Court restrains forest department from conducting ‘Walk with Wildlife’ inside Asola Sanctuary

The Delhi High Court on Thursday restrained the Department of Forest from organising the proposed “Walk with Wildlife” event at the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary this weekend, till further orders [Devinder v. The Lt. Governor & Ors]..Justice Jasmeet Singh found that the permission for the proposed event had been granted in a mechanical manner with no analysis of likely threats to participating people, or the animals and the Sanctuary itself.The Court concluded that the locations frequented by the leopards, jackals, hyenas, and pythons had not been discussed by the Department of Forest and Wildlife, while granting the permission.“The literature shows that safaris and entries into Sanctuaries are to be very delicately, minutely worked out and intrinsically planned activities to ensure a good balance between eco-tourism and the protection of wildlife,” the Court added..The event was slated to involve a walkathon and a cyclothon. Safety concerns about the same were recently raised before the High Court in a pending case related to illegal encroachment in forest land on the Aravalli hill range in village Asola, which forms part of the Southern Ridge. After hearing the arguments, the Court noted that all sanctuaries have a core zone and buffer zone. While human intervention is minimal inside the core zones, the buffer zones may have tourism and movement of people with prior approvals.However, the Court found that there was no such demarcation at the Asola Sanctuary. It also took into account the fact that recently there has been spotting of a leopard in Sainik Farm, which adjoins Asola, and the authorities have failed to locate the stray animal.“According to the press news, this leopard has strayed in from the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary and three people have been attacked. This is worrisome,” the Court remarked..In this backdrop, the Court opined the planned event has the trappings of it “turning out to be a misadventure” as the location of animals was not known, nor was their area of movement isolated. “The certainty with regard to number and species are guesswork and there appears to be no plan in place,” it added.The Court further said the event cannot be permitted as it not only endangers the lives of citizens but also the lives of the animals as no arrangement for safety and security has been put forth..The authorities expected at least 100 participants but there is nothing to show any arrangement for them, the Court noted further as it questioned any waste generated during the event would be disposed and how loud noises may be prevented. Thus, the Court restrained the authorities from conducting the proposed event, (the cyclothon and walkathon), till further orders. The matter will be heard next on December 15..Amici Curiae Gautam Narayan, Aditya N. Prasad and Prabhsahay Kaur appeared in the matter along with Advocates Asmita Singh, H Goel and BI Singh.Additional Standing Counsel Satyakam with Advocates Pradyut Kashyap and Vishnupriya Pandey represented the State..[Read Order]