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Demolition drive around Ranthambhor Park

Special Correspondent

CRACKDOWN: White House, a hotel in the vicinity of the Ranthambhor National Park being demolished as part of a crackdown against illegal constructions.

JAIPUR: In a major crackdown on mushrooming illegal constructions on way to the world famous Ranthambhor National Park in Sawai Madhopur district of Rajasthan, the authorities have demolished more than two-dozen structures. In an operation that started on Wednesday and continued on Thursday, a majority of the 32 structures in the vicinity of the Park, identified by the revenue authorities as "illegal", have been brought down.

The Project Tiger Sanctuary, in the news for the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2005 in the wake of a tiger crisis triggered off by the disappearance of the wild cats from the Sariska Sanctuary in Rajasthan, had been witnessing an "outgrowth" of the hotel industry in its periphery.

As the hotel owners, mostly catering to foreign tourists, allegedly took liberties with the strict conservation norms in the vicinity of the Park, the conservations had warned of a repeat of Sariska with the existing tigers in Ranthambhor as well.

Hotel, showroom razed

The demolished structures included White House, a hotel belonging to Goverdhan Singh, son of the well-known tiger expert and author Fateh Singh Rathore.

The other buildings razed in the presence of a huge police posse included Jungle Adventure Resort and Rajasthali, a handicrafts showroom that was inaugurated some time ago by none other than Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. The Administration denied any political motive behind the move.

On the second day of the levelling act, the demolition squad led by Tehsildar Ghasiram Verma reached within 500 metres of the boundary of the National Park to pull down a couple of big illegal structures. Fateh Public School, run by Fateh Singh, was spared after a stay order from the court.

The owners of two other constructions, including that of Chicken Corner, too received a respite in the wake of stay orders.

Eyewitnesses said there were some heart-rending scenes as well during the demolitions as ordinary shop owners and poor persons making a living by selling wares on the roadside were also hit along with owners of palatial buildings.

The local owners of the buildings belonged to villages adjoining the Park such as Kilchipur, Madhavsinghpura and Sherpur.

Sources in the Administration said preparations had been on for a month on the listing of the illegal structures along the road to Ranthambhor Park.

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