Bad News for Nature Lovers - Shocking decision of Supreme court

[Dr.Anand]

NO TOURISM IN CORE AREA OF  ALL TIGER RESERVE .

means now no point visiting ranthambhore , kanha , bandhavgarh etc...........

its not just unfair..its going to prove fatal...for the Tigers and also for thousands of people who are directly or indirectly earning their daily bread from tourism...

Now it is best time poachers to get more active as there will no activity in park , as everybody knows becoz tourism poachers dont visit this area.

[sam]

That's a pity! I wonder what the reasoning was behind this decision?

I feel bad for nature photogs like you dranand! Hope things will change for the better in the near future for you guys.

[Dr.Anand]

Hope things will change for the better in the near future for you guys.

have too sam .otherwise i have to sell my 100-400 with no buyers, this affect a lot. Even camera industry , travel  and even wildlife publishing.

In ranthambhore whole sawai madhopur district is depends upon tourism. If this happen more than 50lacs people will come on roads as they dont have other business.

[djvignesh]

Sounds like the work of the poaching mafia.. As this news comes in the heels of a news that was released some time ago where it was discussed that social networking sites would be used to track tigers in india.. If that happens the poachers cohorts in IFS will not be able to lie about the numbers..

[Brendon]

Very disappointed in this decision. I had even made up my mind that I would buy a decent wildlife lens next year so that I can visit Tiger parks but I guess that unless the SC changes its decision I will have to forget about doing that.

[iamsomnath]

what a sad day 

Leave alone our disappointment as visitors, the actual & much bigger issue is the visitors play perhaps the most crucial role as passive watch dogs. For instance , when groups of visitors return without any sighting day after day , that acts as a red flag . Now we will perhaps have many more incidents as "SARISKA".

[iamsomnath]

upon scratching the surface .... this is an interim order applicable upto 22nd aug 2012... so we hope for the best in the final order...

[Vaibhav Gokhale]

instead of banning the tourism they should restrain it.. the elephant shows should be banned.. # of tourists in the area should be restricted.. the ban aint going to solve the tiger population problem anyways on the other hand it may even work against

[Beyond Legacy]

Of course this is a hurting decision.. Tourism was a healthy way to check poaching..

But, seeing scene (via net) like this also hurts.


Maybe, strict control/command over tourism was more needed than ban.
During season time, traffic in kanha bandhavgarh is so high that we need to do booking in two month advance..

[sam]

But, seeing scene (via net) like this also hurts.

That looks a bit ridiculous!

Anyway, does anyone know why this decision by the SC? I thought it was some form of 'punishment' for the Wildlife authorities for not following the SC's orders?

[Francis]

If one is keenly watching the Newspapers and News channels on this issue the numbers of visitors have swelled into lakhs of visitors.We only have 1500 Tigers.Indians have been increasingly opting for nature/adventure tourism-one of the fastest growing sectors of Tourism.Let us learn to give these beautiful animals some space to populate and grow in a healthy natural environment rather than to the flashing of cam flashes,mobiles and noise/vehicle pollution.Many would argue"What about poachers" but that is another subject altogether.The percentage of amateur/wildlife photographers/lovers is very miniscule to the number of General visitors....

[thelightening]

What I felt is, now a days, than doing a study and take an intelligent decision, Judiciary is just doing what they feel like. God knows whether any kind of study is happened in the background or not.

The positives and negatives what I personally felt is;

Positives
 
1. By this ban, environment will be better, I mean less intrusions, so it will help the nature to nourish.
2. The wildlife will get some peace, so may breed better and will live healthier.

Negatives

1. Government and those who are working on this as their way to earn daily bread and butter may loose jobs
2. Government may loose money earned out of tourism and related things

So what I felt after reading this news was, than taking an uncontrolled approach, why cant we implement a systematic way to utilize these areas for tourism and help both the side...

Note: Systematic way means, controlling the no of people visiting this places, controlling the no of safari schedules, controlling similar things in a pretty manner.

[Brendon]

Positives
 
1. By this ban, environment will be better, I mean less intrusions, so it will help the nature to nourish.
2. The wildlife will get some peace, so may breed better and will live healthier.

Actually the exact opposite is true. Poachers will now have a free run of the forests as there will be few people to spot them. They can kill as many animals as they like with little fear of getting caught.

When there are tons of people around photographing tigers, rangers are on their toes and the crowds deter poachers from trying anything. So they are forced to target less known wildlife sanctuaries where fewer people go and hence rangers and forest officials are more lax.

[toofan]

a welcome desicion. Now someone seen in jungle can be a poacher so will be easy to hunt down. also it will be a relief for this endangered species.

[sam]

a welcome desicion. Now someone seen in jungle can be a poacher so will be easy to hunt down...

If this is true, then why weren't the poachers 'hunted down' before the wildlife tourism 'industry' started booming when there was 'no one' seen in the jungle?

[bodhijobs]

a welcome desicion. Now someone seen in jungle can be a poacher so will be easy to hunt down. also it will be a relief for this endangered species.

Fully disagree. I second Sam's view. Wildlife tourism has picked up pace in the last 10 years. What was happening to poacher's before that? the tiger population didnt overnight reduce.

having said that, our judiciary is a funny system. Its nothing but a pack of whimsical, mindless people thinking themselves to be Gods of this country.

At one hand you allow a definite convict like Kalmadi to roam around freely and on the other hand suddenly you pass a judgement like all cars in Gujarat need to turn to CNG within a year. Come on guys, give us a break. You need to implement the laws which are present not put another law to implement the previous one.

[Hansraj]

a welcome desicion. Now someone seen in jungle can be a poacher so will be easy to hunt down. also it will be a relief for this endangered species.

Ha Ha Ha.... come on vimal.... even if one stands with tiger head in his hand no one can "hunt down" him.
These are complex matters and cannot be just said right or wrong. What today would seems right for the "Tiger", may turn out to be against it in the future. Lets wait and watch.

[kaushik_s]

  Another idiotic decision by the highest court and when I saw the names of the Judges I was not surprised. It had the same Judge who has also given the blanket ban on Sunfilms without any kind of logic. What more can be expected when such kind of person are passing decisions at the court. They could've just controlled the inflow of tourists/photographers to just to allow a particular number of people/vehicles at a time. A blanket ban again is not gonna help. Somehow now I feel that there might be some vested interest behind this petition and the subsequent ruling.