Gujarat High Court To Review Compliance Of Asiatic Lion Protection Measures Following Death Of Three Lions In Gir

The Court noted the compliance affidavit filed by the Chief Conservator of Forest, which detailed the formation of a High-Level Committee (Committee). This committee was established under the supervision of the Ministry of Railways and the Forest Department of the State of Gujarat tasked with developing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to ensure unhindered lion movement in and around the areas of Gir Protected Areas.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi observed, “After going through the report submitted by the High Level Committee, we post the matter on 09.08.2024 to place before us for compliance of the recommendations of the Committee in the first phase such as the decision of the Railway Board for improvement of the headlights of locomotives to relax the speed restrictions, the periodic vegetation shredding on both the sides of the railway track, cleaning of vegetation from the underpasses by the railways, reduction of speed of trains as per the recommendation of the Committee.”

Advocate DM Devnani appeared as amicus curiae for the applicant, while A.A.G. Manisha Lavkumar Shah represented the opponents.

The order addressed the investigation into the deaths of Asiatic Lions in three separate incidents in 2024. Separate inquiry committees had been formed by the Ministry of Railways and the Forest Department to investigate these incidents. The reports from these committees were submitted to the Committee for further consideration.

The Committee held four meetings so far and submitted a brief report outlining various recommended measures. These included imposing speed restrictions during specific times, issuing caution orders in emergencies, constructing underpasses, implementing IT interventions, and providing training to the railway staff. Periodic reviews of these provisions were also recommended to ensure their effectiveness.

The Court took note of the findings of the Committee:

• Incident on January 3, 2023: No negligence was found on the part of the Forest/Railway staff.
• Incident on January 12, 2024: The Committee noted that although no negligence was found, there was no caution order in place for the specific stretch of railway track, and the incident occurred due to high train speed and illumination of the engine was also not enough.
• Incident on January 21, 2024: The Committee there was no safety restriction or caution order for the track. The committee concluded that the incident could have been prevented with lower train speeds.

The Committee notified the preventive measures to stop such instances, such as permanent reduction of speed of the trains during night time at hotspots in summers and winters, speed restrictions on the track.

The Committee noted that as the “railway track passes through certain important and established lion corridors, the hotspots may vary depending on seasons and anthropogenic pressures. Such hotspots, therefore, have to be constantly monitored with the help of the data generated by direct and indirect evidence of lion presence in that area and regularly informed to the Railways, so as to control the speed of the trains in that portion of track.”

Consequently, the Court observed, “The progress made in retrofitting of the underpasses along the railway track of Pipavav to Liliya; commencement of the work of joint-feasibility survey, both by the Railways and Forest Department to notify the location for construction of the underpass and notifying the hotpots, depending upon the seasons and anthropogenic pressures, is to be placed before the Court on the next date fixed.”

Accordingly, the High Court listed the matter for further hearing on August 9, 2024.

Cause Title: Suo Motu v. Union of India & Ors.

Appearance:

Applicant: Amicus Curiae DM Devnani

Opponents: A.A.G. Manisha Lavkumar Shah; A.G.P. Chintan Dave and Dhawan Jayswal, Advocates Kshitij M Amin, Ramnandan Singh, Parth H Bhatt, and Radhesh Y Vyas

Click here to read/download the Order