AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi welcomed by Adivasis at B.R. Hills, Karnataka, on Tuesday. H. Sudharshan, founder of the Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra, is at right.

The Supreme Court today again refused to grant interim permission to Chandigarh's controversial Forest Hill Golf Club and Resort for its commercial use but said that it will have the detailed hearing in the case in May to finally dispose it of. A Bench of Chief Justice K. G Balakrishnan and Justice R V Raveendran did not agree with the plea of club's counsel for lifting the stay on the commercialisation of the resort till the final hearing amidst a strong protest from the counsel of Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA). This was for the second time in a month that the apex court declined to lift its 2004 stay on the commercial use of the club as similar request was rejected on February 8. The court had stayed the commercial use after the Punjab Government and the Centre had alleged that a vast demarcated forest land was encroached upon by the club owner in violation of the Punjab Forest Act. The court was not impressed with the contention of club's counsel that due to the continued stay many of the members were quitting their membership as the Bench said if it won the case, they would in any case come back. The Bench said till the final hearing, the stay could not be lifted while ordering the registry to put up it for hearing in the second week of May. The club's new stand is that after a notification issued by the Centre on October 18, 2006, the status of the land has been changed and it no more was the forest land as many commercial ventures, hotels, resorts and educational institutions had been permitted to come up in the area.

The Centre-sponsored Project Tiger Scheme has sent out a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to states as part of a new Five Year Plan that has allocated Rs 600 crore for the cause of the tiger. In keeping with the new-found urgency to preserve the dwindling numbers of tigers, the MoU has asked for all progress to be monitored through photo catalogues and videographing. There are 28 tiger reserves in 17 states. "So far, the states have not had any scope for reciprocal commitment in terms of tiger conservation. We have found that conservation of the tiger is a shared responsibility which the states have to commit to through the MoU. After the MoU has been signed, the Centre will release fund for Project Tiger in the new fiscal year in March,' said Rajesh Gopal, member secretary of National Tiger Conservation Authority. In a meeting last week, the Prime Minister had reviewed the new tiger census, and had asked chief ministers to take "personal responsibility' for the tigers in their states. The tiger count is at an all time low with only 1,411 in the wild. "The scheme will be strictly monitored. All activities will have to be catalogued through photos. For some activities, we will ask for videographing for our permanent records. For activities like relocation of tribals from critical tiger habitats, we will have photo cataloguing at every stage,' Gopal stressed. More than 70 per cent of the budgetary allocations have been done for facilitating rehabilitation of tribals and people living in the critical or core tiger habitats. Out of Rs 600 crore, Rs 345 crore has been allocated for deciding inviolate spaces for wildlife and relocation of villagers from reserves within a timeframe, which includes a revised pay package of Rs 10 lakh per family for relocation. While states have to delineate buffer zones, extending up to 10 km from tiger reserves, families living in buffer zones will be involved in eco-tourism. This means that the tiger's critical habitat within the reserves will not be disturbed by the Forest Rights Act. The security net

The Union tribal affairs ministry has stressed the need for implementation of Forest Rights Act in time-bound manner and urged the states to complete the preliminary work for identification of beneficiaries by the mid-March.

The Union Tribal Affairs Ministry has stressed the need for the implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act in a time-bound manner and impressed upon the States to complete the preliminary work for identification of beneficiaries by the middle of next month.

Enclosed

The agitation in Polo is a result of the forest department's failure to understand the spirit of the law passed by the Parliament. The Scheduled Tribes and Other