Ladakh LG Rejects Protected Area Boundary Report, Orders Rights Settlement in Two Months

Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has rejected a sub-committee report on the proposed boundaries of three protected areas, citing lapses in the statutory process, inaccurate ground mapping and national security considerations. The State Board for Wildlife (SBWL), meeting under his chairmanship on Friday, directed designated Deputy Commissioners and Settlement Officers to resume public hearings and conclude the settlement proceedings within two months.

The protected areas in question are Hemis National Park, the High Altitude Cold Desert (Changthang) Wildlife Sanctuary, and the Karakoram (Nubra-Shyok) Wildlife Sanctuary.

Legal process bypassed

The Board found that the statutory procedure under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, for settling the rights of individuals and communities in proposed protected areas had not been followed by the sub-committee. According to the LG's office, boundary delineation was instead carried out through a "table-top exercise", a method the administration described as inconsistent with the law, inequitable to affected communities and vulnerable to legal challenge.

The Board also noted that the preliminary notification issued by the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir government in 1987 had not accurately mapped the protected-area boundaries on the ground.

Community claims invited

Local communities have long maintained that settlements and human habitations in these areas predate the protected-area framework and should fall outside the notified boundaries. The administration acknowledged that such areas had been included in the earlier sub-committee exercise. Saxena has urged residents to come forward with their claims and land titles, including evidence of traditional rights and claims relating to pasture lands.

Security dimension

The Board observed that several areas covered by the sub-committee report are of strategic importance and relate to national security, and that mandatory defence considerations had not been duly factored in. Saxena also pointed out that the international boundaries shown in Survey of India maps had not been used as a reference while determining the limits of the protected areas — a step the Board described as essential for any such exercise.

Separately, the SBWL ratified 23 projects at Friday's meeting and forwarded them to the Standing Committee of the National Board of Wildlife for clearance. These include power transmission infrastructure in strategically important border areas, defence infrastructure and other essential projects in the Karakoram and Changthang regions.