DEHRADUN: The National Green Tribunal ( NGT ) on Wednesday directed the ministry of environment, forest and climate change to issue the final draft notification to declare Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary (KWLS) as eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) before January 31.The matter has been pending since March 2015. A local NGO, Doaba Paryavaran Samiti had filed a petition in the NGT seeking prevention of helicopter services over a part of Kedarnath sanctuary and directing the government to declare eco-sensitive zone of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary.To facilitate easy access to Kedarnath shrine the Government of Uttarkhand had decided to allow helicopter services in that area and permission was granted on May 10, 2006 thereafter, many other chopper firms were granted permission to fly in the area.The petition alleged that the frequent sorties posed a threat to the wildlife.A study was also conducted by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) on the directions of forest department in 2017 to measure the impact of helicopters on flora and fauna of the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary.According to the documents presented by the state government to NGT, the WII in its study had stated restriction the helicopter flight heights to at least 600 m (2000 feet) with noise level 50 decibels with the exception of take-off and landing times which would facilitate in reducing noise levels.

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