Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Madhya Pradesh High Court, principal bench at Jabalpur on Monday took serious note of the pollution caused by a water park operating eco-sensitive zone of the Bandhavgarh Tiger
Reserve (BTR) in Umaria.
A ??division bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf, hearing a public interest litigation (PIL), issued notices to the Central and State governments, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Chief Conservator of Forests of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.
The court has sought reply on the matter from the Director General of the Forest Survey of India, the Union Ministry of Environment, the Principal Secretary (Forest) and Kailash Chhatwani, the operator of the water park, among other officials.
The next hearing is scheduled for February 9. Jabalpur-based environmentalist Abhishek Pathak has approached the court on the matter.
Advocate Prabhat Kumar Yadav, representing petitioner, argued before the court that even as Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve is a sensitive natural habitat for wildlife, the mortality rate of elephants, tigers, and other wild animals has increased in the recent years.
As per the petition, 'Kailashji Water Park' is operating in the restricted zone adjacent to the core area of ??the tiger reserve.
Thousands of liters of chemically contaminated wastewater from the water park is being discharged directly into the forest land, polluting the groundwater and natural water sources, the petition mentioned.
The pollution is causing harm to wildlife and vegetation, said the petitioner claiming that foul odour of the contaminated water is driving wildlife away from natural water sources. He claimed that the water park was constructed and operated sans any No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Gram Panchayat, the Pollution Control Board, and the NTCA.
