In a welcome drive to mobilise public opinion and conserve the famed Corbett Tiger Reserve, a group of citizens in Ramnagar cleared over five quintals of polythene garbage from the park periphery on March 7 and 9. The cleanliness campaign was a joint initiative of local NGO, the Society for Mahseer Conservancy and officials of the Corbett Tiger Reserve. The two day programme was carried out from Ladua Chaur to Gargia under the Dhikuli village besides the Corbett Tiger Reserve and focused chiefly on cleaning the stretch of the National Highway.

"Despite being such a sensitive and eco-strategic region, there is no recycling plant around the Corbett Tiger Reserve. Quintals of garbage including polythene, plastic bottles and wrappers around the critical and world famous wildlife park. These polythene dumps ultimately get washed away into the Kosi, polluting the lifeline of Ramnagar causing health hazards to the animals inhabiting the area who eat the polythene accidentally.

Despite a Government ban, there is indiscriminate use of polythene in the region with absolutely no eco-friendly method of disposal; making it clear that the menace cannot be eradicated without sensitising and convincing the public along with a no-loophole implementation of the relevant legislations. We have involved our activists and village residents who are trying to clear all the garbage to prevent its escape into the river as well as to prevent the accidental consumption by animals including wild animals and cattle,"

Sumanta Ghosh, founder president, Society for Mahseer Conservancy told The Pioneer. He added that the drive would be conducted on regular basis in the area in partnership with other stakeholders while local activist Sharad Kumar Jha opined that the drive would be only the beginning of a powerful crusade to make the verdant but deteriorating region trash-free. In a similar vein, UC Tiwari, Park Warden, Corbett Tiger Reserve expressed concern over waste disposal mismanagement in the vicinity of the park and stressed upon the need to devise and execute a fine-tuned and sustainable solution to mitigate the damaging dumping of polythene garbage in the area. The Corbett generates around 80per cent of Uttarakhand's wildlife tourism revenue. Hundreds of hotels and resorts have mushroomed during the past few years, producing tons of litter. But the complete absence of any recycling plant is leading to destruction and pollution of the river ecosystem home to many of the Himalayan endemic fish and avian species.

The two day programme was carried out from Ladua Chaur to Gargia under the Dhikuli village besides the Corbett Tiger Reserve and focused chiefly on cleaning the stretch of the National Highway. It may be recalled that a recent pilot audit by the Union Environment Ministry on the impact of tourism on the Park had also warned that increased tourism has been harming the sensitive biodiversity zone, having caused heavy vehicular traffic, water and air pollution and unfitting waste disposal. 'Most of the hotels/resorts are just operating for commercial purposes and not taking care of the wild life and environment' wherein the 'Mushrooming of lodges, camps, resorts, hotels and guest houses in and around Tiger Reserves is leading to more vehicular traffic, water and air pollution, encroachment of the wild life space, hindrances to wild life movement, threat to the survival of tigers and other wild life', the report stated.

Garbage mismanagement threatens Corbett's ecology:

• 62 per cent resorts in Corbett National Park do not segregate waste as dry and wet waste or biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste

• Most of the hotels are just throwing the waste in any vacant space or corners

• Some of the hotels even burning this waste near river side

• Resorts across the Kosi and the Ramganga are disposing wet waste into the rivers, including chemically treated water from swimming pool.