*Urges exclusion of human habitations for border region devp
Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Feb 2: Member of Parliament from Ladakh Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, brought pressing concerns about wildlife protected areas, including the Karakoram Wildlife Sanctuary in Nubra, Changthang Cold Desert Wildlife Sanctuar, and Hemis National Parks of Leh district, to the forefront during the ongoing Parliament Session.
In a written statement presented in Lok Sabha, Namgyal highlighted the challenges faced by the 1987 initiative to designate Hemis National Park, Changthang Cold Desert Sanctuary, and Karakorum Wildlife Sanctuary in Nubra as wildlife protected areas covering 12,350 sq/km.
He highlighted that essential subsequent processes, such as proclamation, settlement of rights and the final declaration under Section 26A-1, remained incomplete due to significant errors in the initial notification. He said that currently, arbitrary restrictions extended to approximately 38,755 sq/km, surpassing the initially designated area and impacting 87% of Leh district. Alarmingly, over 98% of residents in this expanded region are tribals.
The MP urgently called for Government intervention and demanded the Ministry of Home Affairs to withdraw SRO 158, 155, 152, issued by the State Board for Wildlife of the erstwhile J&K State. He demanded withdrawal of Wildlife Sanctuary Notifications in Ladakh, citing unresolved errors persisting for 36 years and the improbable rectification of these errors in the future.
Namgyal also called upon the Ministry of Home Affairs to facilitate a fresh proposal from the State Board for Wildlife of the Union Territory of Ladakh. “This proposal, developed in consultation with Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, aims to delineate Wildlife Sanctuaries in Ladakh, meticulously excluding Human Habitations with an overarching goal to foster a sustainable coexistence between Ladakh’s wildlife and its human habitations,” he asserted.
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