Excelsior Correspondent
LEH, Aug 1: Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Brigadier (Dr) BD Mishra (Retired) attended a workshop on the ‘Settlement of Rights in the Protected Areas of Ladakh under Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972’, at DC Conference Hall.
Highlighting the need for the early rationalization of boundaries of the Karakoram and Changthang Wildlife Sanctuaries along with the exercise of settlement of rights of the inhabitants of both these wildlife sanctuaries and the Hemis National Park, the LG termed the exercise as ‘the requirement of a progressive, civilized and welfare-oriented world for posterity.’
Giving detailed information about the genesis of the Wildlife Protection Act and its need, he emphasized the need to strike a balance between the rights of the inhabitants and the protection of the wildlife in the protected areas and stated that the Wildlife Protection Act is a means to maintain the balance between the two. Terming the exercise of settlement of rights as important, he highlighted the need to achieve the targeted result at the earliest for the overall benefit of the people of Ladakh.
Advisor to LG, Dr Pawan Kotwal, informed that the exercise of settlement of rights of inhabitants residing in Changthang/ Karakoram wildlife sanctuaries and Hemis National Park started in 1987 but the exercise could not be completed due to which the people in these protected areas are not entitled to their settlement of rights. He informed that the exercise will now be completed with the help of experts from the Wildlife Institute of India.
Sanjeev Gaur, an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) official from Maharashtra, gave a detailed presentation on the scope of work and legal framework of settlement of rights, including the premises and objectives of the Wildlife (Protection Act 1972), the concept of servitudes, dominant and servient estates, nature of rights, cardinal principles for the exercise of rights and legal framework and constraints, etc.
Deputy Commissioner Leh Santosh Sukhdeve; Regional Wildlife Warden/Chief Conservator of Forest Sajjad Mufti; Additional Deputy Commissioner Leh Sonam Chosjor and collectors as well as Patwaris from Leh were present during the event. Girishdatta K Washishtha (MFS), Sanjeev Gaur (IFS) and Dr Salvador Lyngdoh (Scientist) were the resource persons for the workshop.
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