SARISKA: The state government on Thursday resumed a probe that had been ordered in 2005 after it came to light that all tigers in the Sariska reserve have been poached.
Additional chief secretary and development commissioner B B Mohanty arrived at the tiger reserve on Thursday morning and began the probe. He is being helped by the assistant conservator of forest Bhagwan Singh Nathawat. Officials revealed Mohanty took possession of all records dating back to the period before all the tigers had been poached.
"Statements of various forest officials, including many of those working here in 2005, were recorded. The statements of NGOs working for tiger conservation were also recorded," officials said.
"We have written to all involved that whosoever has any information on the incident can give us their side of the story. We will also be sending notices to people who were engaged here but are now retired, including field directors, DFOs and other officials, and get information from them," Mohanty said.
"We will be look into the matter carefully so that whosoever involved does not go scot-free. In addition to this we will also be giving our recommendations so that the incident is repeated," he said adding the report by the R N Mehrotra committee will be a great help.
Officials explained the probe is being resumed now because the person who was heading the probe team then retired eventually.
"This was revealed recently and we decided to resume the probe and have sought details of all officers who were at Sariska between 1995 and 2005. The idea is to trace those responsible for dereliction of duty," officials said.
Highly placed sources said after it came to light in 2005 that all the Sariska tigers had been poached, the state had ordered an independent probe into it. However, the probe remained incomplete after a preliminary stage as the then additional chief secretary Alka Kalla who was heading the probe failed to make much progress. She retired about two years ago.
Subsequently, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also probed into the incident while an empowered committee set up by the centre to also look into it. Both the agencies have submitted the report and have not found any official guilty in particular though it has rapped the all concerned authorities of negligence. Later, notorious poacher Sansar Chand was arrested.
While state forest department officials explain the resumption of the probe as a natural process after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Rajasthan assembly recently traced the order to be incomplete. Incidentally, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had also pointedly put in its report on the incompletion of the probe. In perhaps one of the biggest setback to conservation, the entire tiger population was wiped out due to poaching from Sariska before the whistle was blown in 2005.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Tiger-poaching-Sariska-probe-resumes/articleshow/9488179.cms
Friday, August 5, 2011
'Tiger reserve only way to check mining' TNN
BICHOLIM: Strongly backing the suggestion of union ministry of environment and forests for a tiger reserve in the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary, environmentalists from Sattari taluka have asserted that this will not only help protect the tiger but will also protect the forest cover which in turn provides water security.
Ranjit Rane from Sonal, Sattari, Vishwash Parab, Rajendra Kerkar and Deepaji Rane from Kumbharkhand told mediapersons in Valpoi that the tiger reserve must become a reality as it will benefit Goa and Goans. They pointed out that Sattari taluka faces the threat of new mining leases.
"To curtail this looming danger, the only alternative is to transform Mhadei wildlife sanctuary into Mhadei tiger reserve," said Parab.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Tiger-reserve-only-way-to-check-mining/articleshow/9486459.cms
Ranjit Rane from Sonal, Sattari, Vishwash Parab, Rajendra Kerkar and Deepaji Rane from Kumbharkhand told mediapersons in Valpoi that the tiger reserve must become a reality as it will benefit Goa and Goans. They pointed out that Sattari taluka faces the threat of new mining leases.
"To curtail this looming danger, the only alternative is to transform Mhadei wildlife sanctuary into Mhadei tiger reserve," said Parab.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Tiger-reserve-only-way-to-check-mining/articleshow/9486459.cms
Naxals posing no threatto tigers, says report Neha Shukla, TNN
LUCKNOW: Naxals are not posing any threat to tigers. This is the outcome of report submitted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority. The authority has come up with its final report of the detailed survey and study of all 39 tiger reserves conducted in 2010. The report, handed over to the MoEF last week, states that naxals are not posing any threat to tigers and wildlife in the reserves situated in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar.
The reserves in naxal-affected belts were clubbed separately in Cluster III for study. Unlike Manas in Assam, which had reported instances of rhinos getting auctioned by armed locals, tigers in the reserves lying in naxal affected states are not under threat by naxals. "We did not find any such instance," said RL Singh, former director, project tiger and chairman of the committee which studied cluster III reserves.
But this has not stopped the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) from recommending a security set up different from the remaining reserves for the said cluster. The reserves in the naxal-belt have come up with their own ways to boost the conservation of wildlife. Satkosia tiger reserve in Orissa, which was founded in 2007, has employed tribals and traditional forest dwellers in the conservation of wildlife.
In Andhra, tribals, 'chenchus', man the reserve. The forest departments have employed at least one young men or a women from each tribal family to patrol the area on a daily wage. A tribal earns some Rs 2,700 per month for patrolling and protecting the reserve area.
The ever-rising man-animal conflict, increasing incidence of wildlife crime, poaching threat and subsequent decline in number of tigers led NTCA to evaluate the reserves. All the 39 tiger reserves were divided into five clusters, state-wise and region-wise, for the exercise.
The five separate committees have studied the management plan of reserves, breedable population of tigers, status of staff, water conservation, prey base, utilisation of funds, the activities taken up by people living within and on the periphery of the forest, cattle-lifting incidents, amount of compensation decided for the victims of tiger attacks by different states and efforts taken up the states for village translocation.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Naxals-posing-no-threatto-tigers-says-report/articleshow/9486868.cms
The reserves in naxal-affected belts were clubbed separately in Cluster III for study. Unlike Manas in Assam, which had reported instances of rhinos getting auctioned by armed locals, tigers in the reserves lying in naxal affected states are not under threat by naxals. "We did not find any such instance," said RL Singh, former director, project tiger and chairman of the committee which studied cluster III reserves.
But this has not stopped the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) from recommending a security set up different from the remaining reserves for the said cluster. The reserves in the naxal-belt have come up with their own ways to boost the conservation of wildlife. Satkosia tiger reserve in Orissa, which was founded in 2007, has employed tribals and traditional forest dwellers in the conservation of wildlife.
In Andhra, tribals, 'chenchus', man the reserve. The forest departments have employed at least one young men or a women from each tribal family to patrol the area on a daily wage. A tribal earns some Rs 2,700 per month for patrolling and protecting the reserve area.
The ever-rising man-animal conflict, increasing incidence of wildlife crime, poaching threat and subsequent decline in number of tigers led NTCA to evaluate the reserves. All the 39 tiger reserves were divided into five clusters, state-wise and region-wise, for the exercise.
The five separate committees have studied the management plan of reserves, breedable population of tigers, status of staff, water conservation, prey base, utilisation of funds, the activities taken up by people living within and on the periphery of the forest, cattle-lifting incidents, amount of compensation decided for the victims of tiger attacks by different states and efforts taken up the states for village translocation.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Naxals-posing-no-threatto-tigers-says-report/articleshow/9486868.cms
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