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Environmentalists Alarmed by Tiger Reserve Land Use on Govt App
12 Feb
Summary
- A government portal lists approval for diverting tiger reserves for unsustainable uses.
- Environmentalists express alarm over the portal's contradictory and dangerous listing.
- The Ministry of Environment denies vetting or communicating such terminology.
A digital government platform, the National Single Window System (NSWS), has caused alarm among environmentalists by listing an approval for the diversion of tiger reserves for ecologically unsustainable uses. This contradicts the fundamental purpose of tiger reserves, which are established to protect wildlife habitats from activities such as mining and industrial development.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has stated that it did not communicate or vet this specific terminology with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), which runs the NSWS portal. A ministry official indicated that all wildlife and environment clearances are processed through a separate portal, PARIVESH 2.0, suggesting the NSWS listing is misleading and factually incorrect.
Conservationists view the listing as a "blatant admission" that commercial interests may be prioritized over preservation, potentially leading to the destruction of natural ecosystems. India is home to over 70% of the world's wild tiger population, with 3,167 tigers estimated in its 58 designated tiger reserves.
