From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Oct 22: All private commercial resorts located in the vicinity of all wildlife sanctuaries in Karnataka face closure.

In addition to the private commercial resorts near wildlife sanctuaries, even the guest houses of the State Forest Department inside the forests in Karnataka will be closed.

This was announced by Karnataka’s Forest Minister C P Yogeshwar, who explained that the decision to close the private commercial resorts in the vicinity of wildlife sanctuaries and forest department’s guesthouses inside forests was taken in the interests of preventing all disturbances to wildlife.

Yogeshwar, who held a meeting with department officials on Monday, said notices would be served on owners of all existing private resorts to close their resorts since they have been causing harmful effects on forests and wildlife.

To take advantage of tourists visiting wildlife sanctuaries, particularly tiger reserves, many commercial resorts have come up in the vicinity of reserved forest areas. Private parties have illegally constructed 30 resorts by encroaching forest areas, he said.

Yogeshwar welcomed the Supreme Court’s ruling on lifting the ban on tourist activities in core areas of tiger reserve forests and said the core area of forests need to be expanded since the number of tigers increased.

The tiger population in the State was an impressive 300, he said pointing out that tigers were facing disturbance in five tiger reserves.

Tour operators have been causing disturbances to tigers and other animals by taking their vehicles near tigers, he said.

The minister said private resorts, including Jungle Lodges and Resorts Limited, should try to earn income from tourists visiting non-forest areas.

The Department’s Principal Secretary would tour wildlife sanctuaries and formulate guidelines to restrict the movement of tourists and vehicles inside the reserves, he said.

All the existing guesthouses of the forest department would be closed and new guesthouse would be built outside the forests for carrying out administrative and other works of the department, the minister said.

There was a huge demand for accommodation in forest guesthouses from relatives of IFS officers and other higher level officials.

The department has been spending huge amounts of money to maintain guesthouses, Yogeshwar said and felt it was necessary to cut down unnecessary expenditure.

''The objective is to protect the forest areas and also prevent disturbances to the wilflife,” he said pointing out that disturbances to wildlife was harmful to people as the wild animals would be forced to stray into human habitats, destroy crops and even kill human beings and domestic animals.