The Centre denotified 732 hectares of the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary in Kota after the Rajasthan Government proposed to alter the boundary of India’s sole gharial sanctuary to meet rising urbanisation needs.

For several years, people living on the banks of the sanctuary could not obtain lease deeds and land titles as the area fell on the forest land.

The state had sought to denotify 1,451.38 hectares but a committee of officials from National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Wildlife Institute of India and state forest department visited the sanctuary and prepared the report.

Based on the report, the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (SC-NBWL) recommended that there is no need to remove those areas from forest which are not inhabited by humans.

During si

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