TCA Reduces Tiger Corridors to 32 Pathways Raising Concerns

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has now formally limited the scope of tiger corridors to the 32 so-called least cost pathways as listed in its 2014 report and those referred to in existing Tiger Conservation Plans (TCPs). This action precludes newer and holistic scientific studies and this affects clearance of developmental projects, and concerns conservationists.

The Policy Swing

The ruling forms a departure of the earlier stand of the NTCA, that had recognized various scientific parameters and literature based on reports of institutes such as the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in the determination of these important wildlife corridors. Connecting corridors enable tigers to travel between habitats providing genetic diversity to the species and long-term survival.

Context of Law and Short-term Consequences

This transformation is a huge implication to any project environmental clearance adjacent to tiger habitats especially in Maharashtra. The wildlife board in the state was already reducing its approvals to projects impacting these 32 pathways, and had commenced so at the time it was challenged in the Bombay High Court. Under the new directive issued by the NTCA, such a restrictive approach is given national frame provided.

Advantage to the economy, disadvantage to the environment

The restricted definition lessens red-tapism in industrial and mining projects obtained beyond the new officially recognized corridors. As an example, Western Coalfields Limited and Lloyds Metals & Energy, major mining projects in Maharashtra could probably find clearance easier. This, conservationists say, enhances the possibility of habitat fragmentation and isolates tiger populations, decreasing conservation efforts.

Opposed to Wider Scientific Opinion

The ruling of the NTCA not only conflicts with a lot of scientific evidence that points towards much more intricate network of tiger movement but it also contradicts a lot of previous thinking on how tigers move. Recent landscape modelling efforts, such as by the LRC Foundation, have determined close to 200 potential corridors in central India alone. Even in the report to its own law by Top 14, the NTCA warned that its routes are incomplete and that other remedies are available.