Asola Sanctuary walkathon-cyclothon event: "Permission granted without analysis of threat perception to people", says Delhi HC

New Delhi [India], December 7 : The Delhi High Court on Thursday restrained Delhi government from organising the proposed walkathon-cyclothon event in Asola Bhati Wildlife Sanctuary till further orders. The high court said that the permission for the event was granted without analysing the threat perception to the people as the area is frequented by the leopard.
The High court ordered, "The respondents are restrained from conducting the proposed event, i.e. cyclothon and walkathon, till further orders."
The matter has been listed on December 15 for further hearing.
This event was proposed at Asola Bhati Wildlife Sanctuary by the Department of Forest on December 9 and 10, 2023, namely "Walk with Wildlife".
Justice Jasmeet Singh passed the orders and said, "The 'Copy of notings' clearly shows that the permission for the proposed event has been granted in a mechanical manner with no analysis of the threat perception to the people, the animals and the Sanctuary."
"The locations frequented by the leopards, jackals, hyenas, and pythons has not been discussed by the Department of Forest and Wildlife, while granting the permission," Justice Singh said.
Justice Singh further said that the advertisement shows a walkathon and a cyclothon to be conducted in the reserved and notified forest land, which according to me cannot be permitted as it not only endangers the lives of citizens who will be willing to participate in the event but also the lives of the animals existing in the wildlife sanctuary, no arrangement for safety
and security put forth.
The bench also expressed its concern for the protection of wildlife. It said, "Safaris and entries into sanctuaries are to be very delicately, minutely worked out and intrinsically planned activities to ensure a good balance between eco-tourism and the protection of wildlife."
"In the present case, the respondent is expecting at least 100 participants for the event; however there is nothing on record to show any arrangement for the same. There is no plan/arrangement for the disposal of waste including human waste. There is no arrangement put forth for the prevention of loud noise created by the organising of such a mass event," Justice Singh observed.
The bench also took note of the fact that there has been a recent spotting of a leopard in Sainik Farm which adjoins Asola. Six days have passed and yet the forest officers have failed to locate the stray leopard.
"According to the press news, this leopard has strayed in from the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary and three people have been attacked. This is worrisome,"Justice Singh expressed his concern.
The bench also considered the document which shows that as far as the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary is concerned, there is no demarcation of core and buffer zone meaning thereby there is no separate, exclusive, core area where the movements of leopards and other animals such as pythons, hyenas are confined to.
"The above-narrated facts show that the conducting of such an event has all the trappings of it turning out to be a misadventure as the location of the animals are unknown, their area of movement is not isolated, the certainty with regard to number and species are guesswork and there appears to be no plan in place," the bench said in the order passed on December 7, 2023.
While passing the order, the bench referred to Wildlife (Protection) Act and observed that a combined reading of sections 27 and 28 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act shows that there are stringent restrictions on entry in sanctuaries and only in exceptional circumstances, as contained in section 28, the Chief Wildlife Warden may permit the entry for specific purposes.
In the present case, no such exceptional reasons have been given for grant of permission/approval except that it is for "eco-tourism".
It was submitted by the Amici Curiae Gautam Narayan that at the outset the submission of the learned ASC that the proposed event is an endeavour of the Department of Forest is incorrect.
It is based on a proposal received from a third party, i.e an organisation named Summit India, which is a registered trust comprising of educationists, bureaucrats, technocrats, Padma Awardees for an awareness program called "Safe Forest" whereby a walkathon is proposed to be conducted and is expected to be attended by eminent sports personalities, international players, government officials and professionals, he added.
However, the Additional Standing Counsel Satyakam stated that tourism in the sanctuary has always been envisaged. He placed reliance on the Management Plan of Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary 2015-2015 to 2024-25 prepared by the Resource Survey and Management Division, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun.