But regardless of the degradation, the operation of vicious cycle is obvious here too and the pressures on bhabhar grass have also been mounting. At the same time, it is a fact that ban workers are among the most marginalized communities in the tract and spinning ban ropes is their mainstay. With the declaration of national park, the forest department has been trying to enforce stricter measures against exploitation of bhabhar grass. Now since 1997 the bhabhar grass is being given free of cost to the Ban workers by park authority for two months period in a season. The alienation of the local people from the natural resources around them and the inadequate alternative sources of fuel, fodder, water, timber, and of earning a livelihood, often force the local people to make demands on the resources of park, thereby coming into conflict with the park authorities.
Some time vested interest also provoke, or directly participate in such confrontations.
Whatever the reason, very often conflicts over the use and control of natural resources became law and order problems and result in physical confrontation between the people and park authorities. The areas adjoining Rajaji falling under various forest division like Dehradun, Shiwalik, Haridwar and Bijnor plantation division also witness this conflict on and off. The problems of controlling the movement of wild elephants out side the park area are complex, involving several socio-economic issue which have to be tackled simultaneously. Cases of crop damage and occasional man-killing by wild elephants have been recorded since time immemorial and the people have been retaliating by killing or injuring elephants. But a rapidly growing human population, accompanied by a large scale shrinkage of forest cover has led to an unprecedented increase in the incidents of elehant-human conflict, in recent time.