The State Board For Wildlife (SBWL) has rejected for the second time the application by the Wildwoods Resorts and Realities Private Limited (WRRP) for wildlife clearance for a proposed mega resort on the eastern border of Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary (GNPWLS) in Amreli.
However, the Ahmedabad-based private developer challenged the board’s decision in the Gujarat High Court on Friday, and the matter was scheduled for final judgment on April 8.
On Friday, Advocate General Kamal Trivedi informed the High Court’s division bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Vaibhavi Nanavati that the SBWL met on March 5 and heard WRRPL. Following a discussion of WRRPL’s submissions, the Board decided not to recommend the resort project to the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) for wildlife clearance, Trivedi added.
“So, this is the Board’s decision?” Justice Pardiwala questioned Trivedi, seeking clarification on the SBWL’s decision, and the AG responded in the affirmative.
“Now, at least some decision has been taken, you all would like to challenge (that decision)?” Justice Pardiwala asked while turning to the counsel of the petitioner and, the counsel, in turn, said yes.
“It appears that the Board has taken the view that since the project of the writ applicant falls within 1 kilometre of the Gir sanctuary boundary, and having regard to the government resolution (dated) 1-7-2015, it decided to follow its earlier decision taken as on 8th of July 2019. In short, it appears that the Board has recommended that the permission as prayed for by the writ applicant should not be granted,” noted the court.
“The board has considered the representation made by the Applicant and after detailed discussion amongst its members, wherein Shri Bhushan Pandya, Shri Priyavat Gadhvi, Shri Nishit Dharaiya and Shir (sic) Snehal Patel, members of SBWL represented that the area is currently a habitat of lions and other wildlife and the area is used as corridor for further movement of lions and may be detrimental for wildlife and its habitat, if infrastructure development happens in the present context,” the minutes record.
The board further highlighted that the project site is merely 400 metres away from the nearest point of Gir boundary.
Informing the parties that now the matter will have to be heard on merit, the bench allowed WRRPL to amend its petition to challenge the latest decision of the SBWL.
After the MoU signed during the 2009 Vibrant Gujarat Investors’ Summit, the state government allotted 99.24 hectare (ha) government wasteland to WRRPL in October 2010. Additionally, the firm purchased more than 71 ha land from private owners during 2009-10, taking the total size of the project site to more than 171 ha, spread across Gandhiya Chavand and Patala villages in Dhari taluka of Amreli.
However, the WRRPL had moved the Gujarat High Court the same year, challenging the rejection of wildlife clearance to the proposed resort project.
The private firm claimed that the project site was more than one kilometre away from relevant GPS coordinates shown in Gir sanctuary maps that were submitted to the central government’s draught eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) in 2016.
Following that, the HC directed a re-survey of the project land in reference to its distance from the sanctuary border last year.