Wildlife team checks Similipal
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Centre embarks upon Similipal survey
After recent reports of rampant tree felling and poaching activities going on inside Similipal Tiger Reserves in Orrisa, the centre has sent a team of wildlife officials to the reserve to get a first hand account of the ground situation. Our recent blog http://planettiger.blogspot.com/2009/07/disaster-in-waiting-similipal-exposed.html had also pointed out to media reports from the reserve citing gross damage being caused to the wildlife inside the park with state forest officials on the run on account of threats from maoists and mafia alike. With the state government refusing to act in time there is a real threat of the tiger reserve being caused irreversible damage before corrective stteps are taken. A central team is now there to access the damange first hand and suggest immediate steps to be taken to stem teh rot. The important issue here will be the will of state forest dept as protection of the tiger reserve is their responsibility. The minister MOEF should personally intervene in teh matter and speak with teh chief minster to ensure no further damage is caused to the reserve.
Tadoba misery continues - Villager relocation plan goes awry
An excellent piece in Down to Earth details hwo villagers who had readily agreed to vacate their land inside the Tadoba Tiger sanctuary have become victims of official apathy and corruption. It is incumbent upon the government to ensure populations that are relocated are given adequate means to earn their livelihood. However in case of villagers who were shifted out of the core areas of TATR were left to efnd for themselves as the land given to them as part of compensation package had no means of irrigation. Depsite many request and protests, as happens in our country, officials kept passing the buck. When the villagers finally went back to TATR to protest, they were arrested. Rather than sit with them and listen and address their genuine demands, officials took extreme steps to stop them from addressing their genuine demands. It is most likely that money provided for creating irrigation facilities has been siphoned off by corrupt officials and a cover up is going on to prevent the truth from coming out. The Minister MOEF has recently done a good job by increasing the monetary compensation available to each family being relocated out of a tiger sanctuary to Rs. 10 lacs. This shoould go a long way in addressing some of the issues that crop up during relocation.
| Relocation by half measure | |
Tadoba suffers due to official apathy
A report in TOI today cites 50 forest labourers going on strike from today for non payment of salaries due 4 months. For all the tall claims of central forest officials and state govt alike, funds some how either vanish before they reach the grassroot level or take inordinately long. The forest department in Maharashtra has been working at a snails pace to address issues related to wildlife protection with the forest department first clearing mining projects around the tiger sanctuary and now ensuring that money doesnt reach its protectors. In the last one year Tadoba has had to face multiple crisis with the chief forest officer threatning to shut down the park in December 2008 on account of lack of staff to manage the park. Recently, the state wildlife office transferred forest officials across the state, in some cases shunting them within a few months after they had taken charge. Tadoba was again the worst hit with old officials removed and new ones to take charge not announced thus leaving critical posts related to forest protectoin unoccupied. It seems the state forest officials are hell bent upon inflicting grave damage to the wildlife sanctuary which its own tourism department calls 'Jewel of Vidharba'. It is time the centre releases a white paper on all individual tiger sanctuaries, issues each of them is facing and what is the plan to protect those areas. The centre would do well to draw up a 10 year plan for tiger protection in teh country rather than rely on ad hoc announcements.
TATR protection hit as van majoors go on strike
Now Gujarat might get Tigers
In a move aimed at repopulating the state with striped cats, minister MOEF recently asked Gujarat Govt to explore reintroducing the big cat in the state. Given the relatively better record Gujarat has had in conserving wildlife and protecting Lions from poaching, the step should bring hope to wildlife enthusiasts. Gujarat is the only western state with no tiger population with the last known cat having vanished in 1997 as per a report in Indian Express. Given the rate at which forest areas esp tiger habitats across the country are shriking, the move should augur well for expanding wildlife population habitats across teh country.
Centre for introduction of tigers in Gujarat; state not ready to trade its ‘pride’
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