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Forest chief wants leopards in Asola



If Delhi's new forest department chief has his way, leopards and hyenas could return to Asola Bhatti, the capital's lone wildlife sanctuary which was part of the terrain where these predators roamed in the not-too-distant past.

Tarun Coomar, who recently took charge as Delhi's additional principal conservator of forests, plans to make Asola Bhatti more bio-diverse — with a better mix of native plant species — and strengthen the corridors that link the sanctuary with other forests in the Aravalis which still have big predators. 

"These corridors still exist. Under directions from the Centre, we have to declare an eco-sensitive zone for Asola which is likely to restore a wildlife corridor," Coomar said, adding that strengthening these wild passages linking Asola with forests in Haryana and Rajasthan could see the return of wildlife such as leopards and hyenas. But any work on the corridors, he cautioned, would require a lot of coordination with the neighbouring states and success would depend on how much priority they give to such a plan. 

Coomar said he would consult ecologist C R Babu on how plantations in the sanctuary and other parts of Delhi ridge can have the right variety of native species that will be attract wildlife. 

The forest chief is also reassessing the demolition drive to remove encroachments from Asola Bhatti, started recently by his department, as there are "differences" in the forest department's survey of forest land and that of documents submitted by people who own land in the area. 

"We have a precise survey done by the special task force (STF), revenue department and Geospatial Delhi Limited (GSDL). But we have to figure out if we are doing the right thing as people also have documents to show that they rightfully own land," he said. But Sanjay Colony, an unauthorized slum cluster of over 25,000 people inside the sanctuary will have to go, he said. 

Coomar, who headed Delhi's forest department 20 years ago before serving in Andaman and Nicobar in various capacities, told that the colony has to be relocated. "The residents are agitating against us but they have no business living inside a wildlife sanctuary," he said. 

The relocation work will soon be carried out with help from Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board. Some may be moved to Savda Ghevra and other colonies near Narela but they have not decided on when the relocation work will be done. 

Coomar said his Andamans stint was not very different from his work in Delhi. "There we would have social fencing as a means to protect forests; here a brick wall separates the sanctuary from human habitation. There it was tropical, evergreen forest and here it's scrub forest. In both, protection is vital," he said. 

"You can call my style of protecting Delhi's forests, neo-forestry, as our goal is to improve forests and biodiversity scientifically," he added. 

On trees within the city, Coomar agreed that agencies seem obsessed with concretizing. "There are some acute urban development problems. I have to woo them to understand the requirements of trees and make them fall in love with them," he said.



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