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WILDLIFE
FIRST CAMPAIGNS
Major
Initiatives, Endeavors
Kudremukh
mining successfully challenged
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The
devastating mine in the Kudremukh just above
the river Bhadra river that causes severe siltation |
In a landmark judgement,
the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has upheld the sanctity of
Kudremukh National Park by rejecting the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company’s
plea to mine at Kudremukh for another 20 years but allowed it
to continue only till the end of 2005; subject to fulfillment
of recommendations made by the Central Empowered Committee on
ecological and other aspects. The
court has also clearly held that the exclusion of the company’s
land (37 sq kms) while issuing the final notification of the Kudremukh
National Park was not in order though the same was being used
for mining and further, has rejected the company’s plea that compliance
of Section 2 of the Forest Conservation Act is not required in
case of renewal of a mining lease.
This
judgement delivered by a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice
of India B.N.Kirpal, Justice Y.K.Sabharwal and Justice Arijit
Pasayat is now recognized
as a historic milestone in protecting seriously depleted wildlife
habitats and water resources of the country. This was in response to an Interlocutory Application –IA 670
in WP 202 filed by KM Chinnappa, Trustee, Wildlife First through
Amicus Curiae Harish
Salve who brilliantly argued the matter.
The
Hon’ble court has also directed that modalities to be adopted
to ‘effectuate’ the order
and the recommendations of the committee shall be worked
out by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, the State Government,
and the company under the supervision, guidance and monitoring
of the committee. The court
has further directed that cases initiated against the company
for alleged violation of various statutes shall be considered
by the respective forums/courts in their proper perspective, uninfluenced
by any observation made in the judgment.
Bangalore-based
Wildlife First had, in association with P.K. Manohar of Legal
Action for Wildlife and Environment (LAW-E), challenged the continuation
of open cast mining by the giant public sector corporation in
the National Park, resulting in destruction of wildlife as well
as heavy silt loads in the Bhadra river system on which millions
of farmers are dependent for their livelihood.
The
campaign against mining in these rich tropical rainforests, located
in one of world’s top 25 biodiversity hotspots was initiated as
far back as 1984, through a wildlife survey by WCS scientist Ullas
Karanth who detected significant populations of globally-threatened
lion-tailed macaque in Kudremukh, leading to the notification
of the National Park by the Government of Karnataka in 1987.
In
a sustained campaign spanning over a decade to get the Kudremukh
National Park legally notified, Wildlife First had actively networked
with several wildlife groups like Kudremukh Wildlife Foundation,
Nature Conservation Guild, Arohana, WILDCAT-C Green Watchers…
This campaign, centered around a powerful documentary “Mindless
Mining” made by noted wildlife film-maker Shekar Dattatri, had
attracted many activists and intellectuals to this critical issue
during the last one year. Several prominent public personalities
like the religious Seers of Pejawar, Sringeri, Dharmastala, Adichunchungiri,
Siddaganga and Sirigere Maths, naturalist- writer Poornachandra
Tejasvi and social worker H. Sudarshan also played a key role
in convincing the Government of Karnataka to notify Kudremukh
National Park and withdraw support to the mining company.
The
pro-wildlife campaign backed by solid scientific data on ecological
destruction including the sedimentation study by Jagdish Krishnaswamy
also played a key role in shaping public and official opinion,
finally resulting in the State Government taking a sensible decision
to terminate the mining lease within 5 years, despite the Union
Government’s eventually failed efforts to keep the mining operations
afloat for 20 more years.
Even
as some social activists question the utility of National Parks,
this landmark wildlife case upholds the critical necessity of
National Parks for human welfare and to keep unbridled development
driven by commercial greed away from critical natural ecosystems
which constitute a mere one percent of India’s landscape.
Other campaigns:
>> Influencing
policy and advocacy
>> Training
and capacity building
>> Protection
and care of protectors
>>
Public opinion
and outreach
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