Forest dept assuages farmers’ concerns regarding ecologically-sensitive zone tag It will be curtains on resorts around the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, with people in the forest fringes, including elected representatives, raising objections. The meeting with the locals to discuss the notification of ecologically sensitive zone (ESZ) around the tiger reserve has unanimously decided to put an end to the resort menace, while the existing resorts will not be allowed to expand. In a meeting attended by local MLAs - H S Mahadev Prasad, Chikkanna, former union minister Srinivas Prasad - and forest officials - Kaushik Mukherjee, Principal Secretary to the Department of Forests, Ecology and Environment, B K Singh, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden, Hosmath, Project Tiger Director - and Deputy Commissioner of Chamarajnagar, it was decided that the department should declare the area as ESZ without affecting the interests of the farmers. Mahadev Prasad, Gundlupet MLA, speaking on behalf of the people near the fringes of the forest, demanded that the department should take into consideration the concerns of the farmers and there should be no confusion regarding the points mentioned in the draft. People’s fury As people vented their fury against the officials, raising each and every point published in the notification, Prasad assumed the role of peacemaker and suggested that some of the anti-farmer conditions be excluded from it. Accordingly the department, braving the volley of allegations by the farmers that they were colluding with the resort lobby which has led to serious man-elephant conflict, promised that the small farmers’ business will go on as usual. When people objected to the department’s intervention in the cultivation and cropping pattern, Kaushik Mukherjee struggled hard to convince the people that the restriction pertained only to the change in land use pattern. The department’s proposal to ban hotels, commercial green houses, industries, plywood industries, agriculture and horticulture-based industries, hydel projects and drawing high tension power lines received support from the people. However, the farmers wanted the department to remove some of the conditions including ban on poultry and animal husbandry. Mukherjee promised that the department would permit organic farming and animal husbandry of local species. However, breeding exotic birds like Emu, Ostrich and Japanese quails had been banned in both zone one and two of the ESZ. The department, following the demand by elected representatives, promised that the rights of the farmers on the trees grown by them would be intact. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), in its gazette notification dated September 21, 2011, had declared the eco-sensitive zones for the park. It says the establishment of commercial hotels and resorts in both the ecologically sensitive zones (ESZ) has been prohibited. According to the notification, resorts within zone one (this includes Kanyanapura Elephant Corridor with 15 villages) are prohibited, except the already existing establishments as on date of the draft notification dated September 21. The notification has also prohibited commercial ventures in Chikkathalalu, Muthigehundi, Nandinathapura and Lakkasoge villages which fall under zone two of ESZ (this includes 108 villages). Several resorts, villas and health centres had started mushrooming in and around Bandipur. Several Bangalore and Pune-based entrepreneurs had planned their projects here. Many resort projects were planned at Kebbepura village of Hangala hobli and an ayurvedic tourism project at Bachalli village. The land for these projects are believed to be in critical wildlife corridors that connect Bandipur to Lokkere and Heggavadi forests, which are further connected to Mudhumalai and Satyamangalam sanctuaries in Tamil Nadu. The notification by the MoEF has also directed the department to prohibit change in land use pattern in zone one, while the felling of trees has to be regulated in accordance with Karnataka Forest Act and Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act. Apart from resorts, the department has also been directed to prohibit the establishment of large scale green houses, other commercial agriculture and tissue culture activities in zone one, while it has been suggested to be regulated in zone two of the ESZ.