ITANAGAR, Oct 5: The All Pakke-Kessang District Students’ Union has written to the principal chief conservator of forests here, requesting that the authority furnish in writing “the status/report of the Committee of Reconnaissance Survey (CRS) of Buffer Zone, Pakke Tiger Reserve (PTR), Seijosa” within 15 days.
The union said that the Supreme Court had in 2012 directed the state governments to demarcate and notify buffer zones around each tiger reserve within three months.
“The Supreme Court provided guidelines that the limits of the buffer/peripheral areas are to be determined on the basis of scientific and objective criteria in consultation with the gram sabha and an expert committee constituted for the purpose,” it said.
The union claimed that the DFO of the Pakke wildlife sanctuary division, Seijosa, neglected the guideline prescribed by the apex court and “determined/demarcated the periphery
of the buffer zone to the core area of the Pakke Tiger Reserve without consultation of the gram sabha and expert committee.”
Later, a redressal forum of Pakke-Kessang district was set up to monitor, guide and suggest to the CRS on the buffer zone of the PTR in Seijosa, constituted under the chairmanship of the Seijosa ADC, the union informed.
“The hearing of each gram sabha was organized within the district of Pakke-Kessang with villagers submitting representations and grievances regarding the demarcation of the buffer zone to the ADC-cum-chairman of the CRS of Buffer Zone, PTR, but as of today, no report of the gram sabha is in the public domain,” it said, and sought the committee’s report.
