NAGPUR: Tiger conservation took a hit on Tuesday when one death was reported inside the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, 475 kms from Nagpur.
This is the 18th tiger death in India since January and comes at a time when census readings are being studied to check if the tally of 1411 from the count four years ago has gone up or down. The new figure will be announced by the Wildlife Institute of India in October this year.
The incident took place at 10am in Zurzura in Tala Range of the reserve. There are conflicting claims not only about the reasons of death but also of the tiger's sex.
Some tourists from Nagpur told TOI that the tiger had died due to suffocation after its neck got entangled in a wire snare which may have been put by villagers to trap herbivores. Others claimed the tiger was hit by a tourist vehicle and died due to injuries.
Forest officials, however, rule out both the possibilities and are giving a completely different view.
CK Patil, field director & conservator of forests at Bandhavgarh, feels that the tiger – a male according to him — could have died in a territorial fight. He denied that it was injured and attacked tourists' vehicles.
Patil was also emphatic that the tiger did not have had wire snares on its neck.
Contradicting his boss' claims, JN Shukla, the Tala range forest officer (RFO), told TOI the dead animal was a three-year-old female and there were no external injury marks on its body. This clearly indicates that the tiger did not die in a territorial fight as is being claimed by Patil.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Award Categories (as discussed) # MEDIA CATEGORIES: 1) Best Brand Integration on Radio Use of radio as a medium by any brand in its pl
NEW DELHI: The environment ministry has formed a panel to examine the impact of 17 projects, relating to mining and infrastructure development, on conservation of tiger.
The four-member committee of former National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) chief P K Sen and NTCA members Prakash Murlidhar Amte, Samar Singh and Urmila Pingle will submit its report within a month.
“The proposals include mining, infrastructure developments and industries projects falling in the buffer and corridor areas of tiger reserves in Tadoba landscape, Bandhavgarh landscape, Kanha landscape, Kanha-Pench corridor and Satpura-Pench corridor of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh,” said NTCA DIG S P Yadav.
Seven of the projects are in the Chindwara district, which is represented by roads minister Kamal Nath. These projects, which are mostly in the mining sector, came up for environmental clearance in April. The committee is expected to examine the proposals in terms of its impact on tiger conservation and submit its recommendation based on which clearance will be given.
Among the projects that will have to await clearance is the Mandla Underground project of Jaiprakash Associates in Chindwara, four coal mine projects of the Western Coalfields Ltd also in Chindwara. There are two coal-based thermal projects in the Umaria district, a 300 MW coal based project in Chandrapur and a 1980 MW thermal power project in Katni will also be studies by this committee before clearance is given.
Environment minister Jairam Ramesh has on several occasion made it clear that his ministry would not okay projects that would adversely impact natural reserves and the environment. Mr Ramesh has stressed that his job was to implement the Environment Protection Act, 1986; the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, and the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, in a “transparent and professional” manner.
The four-member committee of former National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) chief P K Sen and NTCA members Prakash Murlidhar Amte, Samar Singh and Urmila Pingle will submit its report within a month.
“The proposals include mining, infrastructure developments and industries projects falling in the buffer and corridor areas of tiger reserves in Tadoba landscape, Bandhavgarh landscape, Kanha landscape, Kanha-Pench corridor and Satpura-Pench corridor of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh,” said NTCA DIG S P Yadav.
Seven of the projects are in the Chindwara district, which is represented by roads minister Kamal Nath. These projects, which are mostly in the mining sector, came up for environmental clearance in April. The committee is expected to examine the proposals in terms of its impact on tiger conservation and submit its recommendation based on which clearance will be given.
Among the projects that will have to await clearance is the Mandla Underground project of Jaiprakash Associates in Chindwara, four coal mine projects of the Western Coalfields Ltd also in Chindwara. There are two coal-based thermal projects in the Umaria district, a 300 MW coal based project in Chandrapur and a 1980 MW thermal power project in Katni will also be studies by this committee before clearance is given.
Environment minister Jairam Ramesh has on several occasion made it clear that his ministry would not okay projects that would adversely impact natural reserves and the environment. Mr Ramesh has stressed that his job was to implement the Environment Protection Act, 1986; the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, and the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, in a “transparent and professional” manner.
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