New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) Over 17,000 hectares of land belonging to national parks and wildlife sanctuaries has been encroached upon, parliament was informed Wednesday.
‘There have been reports of encroachment in some of the protected areas in the country from time to time,’ Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
According to ministry records, the details of encroachment in national parks were till 2007 and amounted a whopping 17,190 hectares.
Out of this, the biggest share was of Assam’s protected areas, with Kaziranga National Park reporting 7,790 hectares of encroachment.
The state’s Nameri National Park reported 2,100 hectares of encroachment and Manas National Park, also in Assam, with 1,700 hectares of encroachment.
Ramesh said that the management of protect areas is primarily the responsibility of state governments. The central government has issued guidelines for eviction of encroachment from forest lands.
‘Moreover, under the centrally-sponsored schemes like integrated development of wildlife habitats, project tiger and project elephant, the government provides technical and financial assistance to the protected areas for various activities including those aimed at the prevention of encroachment,’ he said.
