Environment · 21 Aug 2026

Tiger Reserve encroachment CEC Supreme Court

Consider the following statements regarding the Supreme Court's recent order on forest encroachment in Tamil Nadu:

  1. The Central Empowered Committee's survey found around 4,595 individuals encroaching on over 5,000 hectares in the Srivilliputhur-Megamalai Tiger Reserve alone, of whom 118 were serving or retired government employees.
  2. In the Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary, more than half of the total encroached area is currently under litigation.
  3. The Supreme Court directed that welfare schemes and public utilities be extended to encroached areas to encourage voluntary eviction.
A2 and 3 only
B1 and 2 only
C1 only
D1, 2 and 3
This question is based on: The Forest Department's Own Employees Are Among the Encroachers It's Supposed to Evict
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About this question

Why in news

The Supreme Court ordered a structured, time-bound eviction framework for the Agasthyamalai landscape after a CEC survey revealed thousands of encroachers, including 118 government employees, in Tamil Nadu's Tiger Reserves and Wildlife Sanctuaries.

Why for UPSC

This tests careful reading of specific hectare and headcount figures across two different protected areas, plus the direction of a Court order (moratorium versus incentive) - a common way UPSC inverts a fact to test attentiveness.

Prelims summary

A CEC survey found ~4,595 encroachers on 5,071 hectares in the Srivilliputhur-Megamalai Tiger Reserve, including 118 government employees; Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary has 427.40 hectares encroached, over half under litigation. The Supreme Court ordered a moratorium on welfare/utility extension to encroached land, not its provision.

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