Rajasthan High Court's principal seat at Jodhpur has banned all kinds of constructions, comprising commercial and industrial, within a 1 km radius of Kumbhalgarh wildlife sanctuary.

The bench comprising Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Vinod Kumar Bharwani has ordered Rajsamand and Pali collectors to guarantee compliance with the stay order. The court order dated January 18 says all construction activities being taken up within 1,000 m from the boundary of Kumbhalgarh Forest Reserve shall remain paused.

Rituraj Singh, an advocate who has filed a PIL, said that according to the Rajasthan Tourism Policy, 2020, people can use up to 20-room guest houses without the requirement for commercial conversion of their properties. As such, many hotels have opened within 1 km from the boundaries of the protected area.

The court order further reads that the principal secretary, department of tourism and district collector, Rajsamand and Pali, will be personally accountable for guaranteeing compliance with this order. The PIL reads, the forest department released an order dated March 31, 2015, concerning the prohibition of commercial and industrial activities in a 1km zone from the protected area boundaries.

Additionally, revenue officials have been ordered not to transform any land in the areas up to 1 km from the boundaries of the protected regions of Ranthambore, Sariska, Kumbhalgarh wildlife sanctuary and Jawai leopard conservation reserve.

The public interest litigation (PIL) reads that a guest house with 20 rooms is a purely commercial activity and according to the order of the forest department it should be prohibited within 1 km from the boundaries of the protected regions but as the department of tourism is not treating a guest house with 20 rooms as a commercial activity such commercial guest houses are being developed within 1 km from the boundaries of the protected regions.

The petitioner claimed the National Tiger Conservation Authority released a feasibility report for announcing Kumbhalgarh and Todgarh Raoli wildlife sanctuaries as potential tiger reserves.

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