In two years, 952 industrial projects have been approved, none rejected. Crucial safety nets to protect our well-being have failed, exposes PRERNA SINGH BINDRA
THAT THE repercussions of the environment crisis are more devastating, and far-reaching than the economic slowdown, is established. The key tool used worldwide as a safeguard against the devastating impacts of unplanned and careless industrial expansion is the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA). Unfortunately, in India, the EIA, rather than respect its role as crucial decision making tool, is reduced to a tawdry joke. Sample this: An EIA report lists two tiger species (though the world has only one), two unknown cobra species (if these exist, it’s time to celebrate), Brown Pied Hornbill (there’s no such bird), and Python aculetes (really? Must be new to science!). Other wildlife listed includes red panda, snow leopard, Himalayan black bear, musk deer — all critically endangered species. The conclusion? No major wildlife observed.
Another report counts cows, goats, buffaloes, cats and dogs as endemic fauna species.
These two gems from EIA reports were part of assessments by which clearances were given to development projects likely to have serious environmental and social impact. The second extract, from the EIA of JSW Energy Ltd in the Konkan region, classifies cats and dogs as endemic species, when a six-year-old knows them as pets kept at home. The first extract — replete with fraudulent ‘discoveries’ — pertains to the 3,000 Dibang Multi-Purpose Project in Arunachal Pradesh, the foundation stone of which was laid by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, in January 2008, in the face of stiff opposition from local tribals, and much before it got environmental clearance — a telling indication that a green signal is a foregone conclusion for a project. And why not?
IN DANGER
ACCORDING TO investigations by the EIA Response Centre (ERC), an initiative of LIFE (Legal Initiative for Forests and Environment) and documents available exclusively with TEHELKA, in the past two years almost all submitted projects have sailed through the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). Let’s be precise: since September 14, 2006, when the new EIA notification came into force, to September 2008, every industrial project for which approval was sought was cleared: 952 industries approved, none rejected. Nor did the 134 thermal power plants face any environmental hiccups, though it is well-established that such carbon-intensive plants contribute significantly to global warming. The one nuclear plant was approved, while only four construction sites out of a whopping 1,073, and 10 of 587 non-coal mining requests were rejected, raising the question whether the mandate of the MoEF is to protect or destroy the environment.
The law says that major development, infrastructural and industrial projects require an EIA, which must include a comprehensive survey and investigation — including environmental, social and economic repercussions — and be cleared by the Expert Appraisal Committees formed by the Ministry under the Environment Protection Act, 1986. But the law is an ass. And the EIA a farce practiced by the MoEF. Documents with TEHELKA show how the Ministry has ignored environmental and social concerns in the face of glaring omissions, false information and public opposition.
Let’s pursue the JSW Energy Ltd in Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra, which first got into an MoU with the state, and only later applied for environmental clearance. The EIA conveniently ignores the existence of mangroves and reserve forests near the proposed thermal power unit. It also ‘forgets’ to mention that the area falls under the Ratnagiri- Sindhudhurg Regional Plan, which excludes thermal plants from the list of permitted industries. Telling of the EIA’s callousness is that it fails to assess the impact on fisheries and mango crops, which form the backbone of the local economy. Ratnagiri is the home of the Alphonso mango, which is exported across the globe. It is established that air pollutants from coal-fired thermal plants damage mango crops, and consequently the market for this highquality mango has already been affected. Rues Pradeep Parulekar, a lawyer based in the region, who has been campaigning against the project, “The cumulative impact of the various power projects and mines will ruin this region, its marine life and mango crops. We have already received letters from our exporters that if there are thermal power plants with sulphur dioxide emissions — as with JSW — our mangoes will not be acceptable under GAP (Good Agriculture Practice). We have already seen the sham of an EIA in the JSW case — I don’t hold hope for any others in the pipeline.” Need one mention that nothing of this carried weight with the MoEF, which, in its infinite wisdom, gave it the go-ahead.
SAYS CONSERVATIONIST Bittu Sahgal, “The MoEF was entrusted with protecting our life support systems like river, corals, forests and mountains. It has failed. Its officers have the notion that their job is to remove all obstacles and facilitate the speedy construction of dams, roads, or thermal plants. The MoEF has lost the plot.”
JSW and the Dibang project are just two tales in a saga of fraudulent EIAs. The EIA that procured clearance for Ashapura Minechem’s mining projects was simply a copy of a Russian bauxite mine report, and has bloopers like: “The primary habitat near the site, for birds, is the spruce forests and the forests of mixed spruce and birch.” Forests found in northern temperate regions, not in the tropical ecology and vegetation of Ratnagiri, the mine’s site.
Another example of the EIA’s cyclostyle method is the Vishnugad Pipalkoti Hydroelectric Project. This EIA refers to the riverbed of the Teesta, the lifeline of Sikkim, though the project is actually located on the river Alaknanda in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand.
Even the MoEF admits that most EIAs are cut-paste jobs, “mainly executed by fly-by-night operators. Any Tom, Dick and Harry may do it — there’s no registration system.” But, the MoEF official hurriedly adds, “there are checks and balances to check faulty EIAs.” This refers to the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA), to whom aggrieved parties may appeal. “A futile exercise,” points out Ritwick Dutta, co-convenor of ERC, which has monitored and challenged faulty approvals, often based on fraudulent EIAs, for two years. “The NEAA has dismissed every appeal filed in the last 11 years — since it was formed — save one. A major flaw in the clearance process is that EIAs are prepared by consultants employed by the proponent of the project, and are biased towards getting clearance,” he adds. The NEAA hasn’t even had a chairperson for eight years, and no vice-chair for three.
Renowned environmentalist Claude Alvaris cites Goa as a classic victim of the laissez faire manner of giving environment clearances. “After 2005, almost all mines have been given environment clearance. The first set of mining leases were cleared in a belt of one kilometre from wildlife sanctuaries, and even to leases located within wildlife sanctuaries! The clearances for mines in a small state like Goa has crossed 160! It’s become the easiest parcha to get. Even if there are state policies that don’t allow certain types of industries, the Ministry clears them.”
WHEN, RARELY, the MoEF does ask for additional EIAs, it does little good. The Lower Subansiri Hydel-Project on the Arunachal-Assam border is a classic example. This is expected to drown 3,500 ha of pristine forest, part of a rich biodiversity hotspot — but the EIA glossed over this. Under pressure from various conservation bodies, an additional six-day study was produced. This included comments like, “The long and vast waterbody created by the reservoir will be a happy haunt for aquatic creatures.” Someone please inform these experts that still waters do not make happy haunts for native aquatic species, which need fast-flowing rivers. If it wasn’t tragic, it would be funny.
In a democracy, public participation is supposedly important, especially regarding a project with major implications for the local populace. However, public concerns have been callously dismissed. The first public hearing for the Tapaimukh Multipurpose Project was held at Tamenglong, Manipur, about 300 km from the site. This project is set to drown 270 sq kms (roughly half the size of Corbett Tiger Reserve) of forest in one of India’s two biodiversity hotspots, and cut 84 lakh trees. Similarly, in the case of Monnet Ispat and Energy Ltd in Raigarh district, Chattisgarh, the public hearing, was postponed, after which it was never held, even as the administration, on which also rests the responsibility, remained a mute spectator. They even began work without environment clearance. Regardless, clearance was granted on 26 December, 2007.
Public opposition is of little consequence. The Borga Iron Ore mine in South Goa was resisted by locals who feared loss of agricultural productivity and damage to water bodies. In the public hearing, the additional collector noted that “not one member of the public was in favour of restarting the mine.” But the mine is set to begin operation.
“The writing is on the wall: India has no environmental governance systems. If this continues, we might as well give up the pretence of environmental protection, public hearings, etc and say we can’t afford restrictive laws and prohibitory conservation measures — rather than waste taxpayers’ money over non-functional institutions,” says Dutta.
The problem is that the EIA process — ‘reformed’ in 2006 from an already weak policy — is geared to be investment friendly, not protect the environment. It aims “to do away with cumbersome environmental and forest clearance procedures.” Most EIAs, especially those on mines, are dismissed by Rapid EIA reports — studies done and data collected in just three months — though the EIA manual stipulates that over a year should be the norm for studies. Efforts to meet both the MoEF secretary, Vijai Sharma, and the Minister of State for Environment, Namo Narayan Meena, were resisted. This reporter attempted to meet the minister, but was refused entry by his private secretary, Rajeev Kumar, who dismissed the subject: “The minister cannot answer such conceptual questions. It’s nothing to do with him. He has nothing to do with policy. He merely passes on the papers to the PMO — the PM also holds the portfolio of the Union Minister of Environment and Forests.”
The watchdog for India’s environment has become a pet of the industrial and mining lobby.
Just three of the numerous species threatened by fraudulent clearances
SNOW LEOPARD
This critically endangered animal faces further threat as tracts of its forests may be drowned by hydroelectric projects that have been given the go-ahead
GANGETIC DOLPHIN
Environmental clearances rarely care that dams will endanger the future of dolphins and otters, which require free-flowing rivers, not waters contained by dams
HOOLOCK GIBBON
India’s only ape may not live another day as its forests in the North-east, part of a globalbiodiversity hotspot, will be flooded thanks to shoddy EIAs
From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Vol 6, Issue 4, Dated Jan 31, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
So they may not kill the tiger.....
Fingers crossed--they may not kill the tiger after all
--and i hope thats true--for the tiger was persecuted and hounded-if only they had let him be, initially, the situation might not have reached this stage.
The worry now is the future of the tiger--if the buffons--excuse my langaue --out their on the field worried more about their Allen Solly coats getting spoilt with the dust when on the happy hunt for the tiger-it was, and continues to eb circus.
I am happy that the tiger may not be killed--but again, this may come too late for this wild animal whose only reosrt might be lifetime imprisonment--in a cage. in a zoo.
Stray tiger not a man-eater, don’t kill it’
Lucknow
Court asks Chief Wildlife Warden to issue fresh instructions
Justice UK Dhaon of Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court asked the Chief Wildlife Warden to issue fresh orders in case of the stray tiger which was not a man-eater. Dhaon issued instructions while hearing a PIL on the stray tiger on Wednesday.
Going by the investigative report regarding the Pilibhit stray tiger filed by The Pioneer correspondent Prerna Singh Bindra, a PIL was filed in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Monday and the same came up for hearing on Wednesday. The PIL made a fervent plea that the Pilibhit stray tiger was not a man-eater and should not be killed by the department which was supposed to save it.
Lucknow-based Wildlife activist Kaushlendra Singh, who had founded the NGO ‘Tiger Ark’ along with Billy Arjan Singh, filed the PIL in the Lucknow bench of the High Court and asserted that the Pilibhit stray tiger was not a man-eater. Singh said the court took a serious note of his plea.
“I pleaded to the court while arguing my case that the tiger could not be called a man-eater as according to the books written by Jim Corbett, such a tiger was described as one who survived on human flesh and stalked men while this tiger was doing no such thing,” said Kaushlendra.
Taking note of Prerna Singh Bindra’s report, which specifically pointed out that the 14-year-old boy, who was allegedly killed by the tiger on December 21 at Barabanki, could be a victim of enmity. “The report specifically mentions that the boy was missing for the past four days and the villagers admitted that he could be a victim of enmity,” said Singh.
The wildlife activist also pointed out that the man who was killed in Kumarganj on January 14 had risked his own life. “The man was not supposed to enter the forest area as such instructions had been given to the villagers. So he invited his own death in a way and the tiger was not to be blamed for it,” said Kaushlendra.
Story in The Pioneer dated January 22, 2009
--and i hope thats true--for the tiger was persecuted and hounded-if only they had let him be, initially, the situation might not have reached this stage.
The worry now is the future of the tiger--if the buffons--excuse my langaue --out their on the field worried more about their Allen Solly coats getting spoilt with the dust when on the happy hunt for the tiger-it was, and continues to eb circus.
I am happy that the tiger may not be killed--but again, this may come too late for this wild animal whose only reosrt might be lifetime imprisonment--in a cage. in a zoo.
Stray tiger not a man-eater, don’t kill it’
Lucknow
Court asks Chief Wildlife Warden to issue fresh instructions
Justice UK Dhaon of Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court asked the Chief Wildlife Warden to issue fresh orders in case of the stray tiger which was not a man-eater. Dhaon issued instructions while hearing a PIL on the stray tiger on Wednesday.
Going by the investigative report regarding the Pilibhit stray tiger filed by The Pioneer correspondent Prerna Singh Bindra, a PIL was filed in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Monday and the same came up for hearing on Wednesday. The PIL made a fervent plea that the Pilibhit stray tiger was not a man-eater and should not be killed by the department which was supposed to save it.
Lucknow-based Wildlife activist Kaushlendra Singh, who had founded the NGO ‘Tiger Ark’ along with Billy Arjan Singh, filed the PIL in the Lucknow bench of the High Court and asserted that the Pilibhit stray tiger was not a man-eater. Singh said the court took a serious note of his plea.
“I pleaded to the court while arguing my case that the tiger could not be called a man-eater as according to the books written by Jim Corbett, such a tiger was described as one who survived on human flesh and stalked men while this tiger was doing no such thing,” said Kaushlendra.
Taking note of Prerna Singh Bindra’s report, which specifically pointed out that the 14-year-old boy, who was allegedly killed by the tiger on December 21 at Barabanki, could be a victim of enmity. “The report specifically mentions that the boy was missing for the past four days and the villagers admitted that he could be a victim of enmity,” said Singh.
The wildlife activist also pointed out that the man who was killed in Kumarganj on January 14 had risked his own life. “The man was not supposed to enter the forest area as such instructions had been given to the villagers. So he invited his own death in a way and the tiger was not to be blamed for it,” said Kaushlendra.
Story in The Pioneer dated January 22, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Fugitive Tiger counts its last days
Confused officials, angry villagers hound animal to kill humans
Chaubeypur (Faizabad):
He is the king….the most powerful predator to walk on earth—till the hand of man sealed his fate. He is now a fugitive-on the run, and condemned to death. He is the 'man-eating' tiger, who is reported to have killed four people—the last on Wednesday night—a man of about 50, Raghuraj. A casual labour, who has left behind a grieving widow, and six children. The anger in the village is palpable—this the second death in five days, and the locals are incensed by what they perceive as the apathy of the forest department in particular, and the government at large. The tiger has been around for nearly a month now—why haven't they been able to get rid of him? Trap him, kill him—whatever—just free them of the terror which haunts the village, and prohibits them from going about their daily rituals—especially at dusk, and thereafter.
And so the death warrant is out—orders have been revoked (they were withdrawn under pressure from the centre and conservationists) to kill the tiger. Preparations have been made for the hunt. Four elephants are on duty to corner the cat. Shooters—two officers from the forest department experienced in killing man-eaters, are stationed on the machan, waiting for their target-to kill the errant royal Bengal tiger. He may be slayed tonight—or maybe a few days later, and India will lose yet another tiger, our national animal, whom we are committed to protect.
But, questions an angry villager, Devi Prasad, "is the life of the tiger more important that the life of man. Don't our lives matter?"
Yes, they do.
Tragedy is—both could have been saved—this catastrophe could have been prevented had the situation been nipped in the bud, dealt with in a more responsible, effective way, rather than the chaotic, foolish manner that has been the order of the day.
One will not go, currently, into how the degraded habitat and declining prey base is causing such severe conflict, but concentrate on the fall of this particular tiger. He is young, maybe two, just about the time when males carve their own territories, and in this process must have strayed into sugarcane fields which surround his forest, Pilibhit. Sugarcane fields are akin to the tiger's natural habitat, not unlike tall grasses in the forest, and the tiger could probably satiate his hunger by livestock, and wild boar which raided the fields. The first killing on November 12 was accidental—and not intentional. The victim, a young boy, would have been mistaken for another prey, and killed. Understandably, a huge hue and cry followed—and an angry public, egged on by the administration, used crackers, etc to chase the tiger. Sources in the state administration say, the only aim was to drive the tiger—and trouble-out of their district—any which way. Unofficially, the guns were out too. And the chase begin in earnest—with the tiger constantly on the run from an angry public—went further, and further away into no tiger's land and human habitation—from Pilibhit to Lakhimpur to Shahjanpur to Sitapur.
.
His next stop, Barabanki proved to be fatal. He killed a teenager on December 21—though this remains in doubt as the victim had been missing since the past four days, and the tiger had killed a neelgai just the night before, making it unlikely that he would attack the dayafter. Quick to react, the DM (though this was quickly denied soon after) announced an award to shoot the tiger—which had all village braves join in the merry hunt. Along with a contingent of forest guards, trackers, officers—over 200 PACs were tracking the tiger with the aim to kill. Orders were issues to shoot the man-eater.
It is this continual persecution that was the crucial error. Harassed constantly by mobs was one way to ensure that the tiger would not be trapped. According to the Wildlife Institute of India report 'trying to localise the tiger by putting baits, minimising disturbance to the animal and intensifying trapping is the best chance to catch the tiger'. Not by hounding him-which stresses the animal, and push him to kill in self-defence.
That way, we create man-eaters. Nor, frankly, has any sincere attempt been made to trap the tiger. The Uttar Pradesh forest department did not have proper or sufficient tranquilizing guns or cages. Experts opined that leg traps-like poachers do to trap-should be used, and then the animal tranquilised, but the administration did not bother. Internal politics delayed decisions—and "attempts to tranquilise were half-hearted, and only to appease the centre, and taken up by one or two officials."
Nor did the public co-operate. "Chase the Tiger' became the latest source of amusement. Controlling the crowds became a task impossible.
People broke counsel not to venture out far after dusk. Raghuraj went into the forest-at dusk-against the advice of villagers. He paid with his life.
As will the tiger.
But as we press the trigger, we may pause to think that he is not the only guilty one.
Appeared in The Pioneer on January 16.
The floowed sotry appeared in The Pioneer, January 18.
Prerna Singh Bindra
Devgaon (Faizabad):
Even as hunters sit on two strategically placed machans waiting for their quarry—the royal Bengal tiger, and irate villagers bay for its blood in Devgaon in Faizabad district, the questions we need to ask is: is this tiger being killed due to the folly of man? Was there any sincere effort at all to capture the tiger? And most significantly has it really killed the people it has been blamed for—particularly, the second incident, in Barabanki. The fatal point for the tiger was December 21, when it made its second 'kill': A 14-year-old boy in Barabanki, not too far from Lucknow. But was the tiger the culprit? The boy had been missing since four days, and the tiger had killed a neelgai just the night before—making it extremely unlikely that it would hunt again the next day. Sources in the police say that it was a case of suspected murder and that the teenager may have been killed by miscreants or due to some internal quarrel, but the "tiger was the fall guy". And even though the local administration, including the forest officials, doubted that this was a tiger killing, no one bothered to investigate, which was the least the situation called for. That the tiger was not a man-eater is indicated from a story narrated by a forest officer, who said that "tiger had killed a goat, but even as the tiger watched, villagers appropriated the kill, and skinned the goat even as the tiger watched. This happened a day or two into the new year. This incident was narrated to us by the villagers, and we also the neatly skinned remains of the goat—a task that could not have been achieved by a tiger-since he cannot use a knife." Importantly, this happened days after the tiger was supposed to have killed the boy in Barabanki.
This is just one among the many tragedies that has plagued the 'man-eater of Barabanki. For over 60 days the UP forest department has been on the trail of this elusive tiger-to chase it, kill it, catch it, shoot it—as the case may be—and herein lies a sorry tale of how mismanagement, lack of conviction and expertise have led to this situation, when we are reduced to slaughtering our national animal by the official gun.
It has been over two months now since the tiger has turned fugitive, it is believed to have strayed from Debriya range in Pilibhit, a newly declared tiger reserve that adjoins Dudhwa. Like most reserves in India this is islanded, and surrounded by sugarcane fields, in which the tiger might have wandered—either to carve its territory since it is a young tiger, or to look for food-livestock, as natural prey has declined drastically with game hunting being a growing problem. This is the season when sugarcane is cut. The loss of cover left the tiger vulnerable, and he might have been chased by terrified villagers. The accidental killing of a young boy on November 10 understandably intensified villager anger. The situation would have not snowballed into the volatile affair it is now, had it been tackled wisely with few experienced experts either driving the tiger towards the forest, or tranquilising it. Instead, the tiger was besieged by angry villagers, forest officials, policemen and confused. Persecuted, and confused, he has walked over 550 km through Pilibhit-Kheri-Shahjahnpur-Sitapur-Barabanki-Faizabad. It has stuck to following the Gomti river downstream , and while these places only have very degraded , fragmented forests, there are enough patches of bushes and grasses to provide cover. But the real reason that he eluded the officials was that there was never any dedicated effort to catch it. The UP forest department simply does not have either the will, or expertise, and the equipment, which is shoddy, at best. The goal throughout has been to chase the tiger away from their district, "as there was pressure from the top that there would be trouble for the administration if the tiger created any problem in their area."
Then came the Barabanki disaster on December 21,--and the hounding became rabid. The tiger was declared man-eater by the Chief Wildlife Warden, and shockingly an award announced by the local administration to shoot the tiger—denied later, but enough to rouse the local heroes to get their guns out and join the chase. Over 200 PAC personnel joined in the hunt. Under pressure from the centre, the order to kill was withdrawn—but there were only half-hearted efforts to tranquilise and capture the tiger—and gave it a fair chance at rehabilitation in the wild, most of them bungled.
In the first place, one needs to question the expertise and the field experience of the officers to tackle such a task—from the Chief Wildlife Warden downwards. "What mattered, even in crucial tasks like tranquilisation, was not skill but political influence," says a source. And vital opportunities to tranquilize were missed. Like in Batauli just before the Barabanki incident—where the tiger was seen-and within shooting distance, but the hand which held the tranquilising gun shook missing the target—and the chance to capture the tiger. Nor did they welcome outside help, but only called for it under pressure from the centre. "The local experts were clearly upset about the presence of the Wildlife Institute of India, which has the scientific expertise for tranquilisation and could have been vital in this exercise," adds the source. One of the wildlife biologists who visited remarked that the way things were being conducted, it would be lucky if they caught a rat, let alone a tiger."
The worst mistake was the constant persecution of the tiger. For nearly 60 days—the tiger has constantly been hounded with hundreds of people. No less than contingent of a dozen cars follow the tiger on the run. Myriads officials discuss, the next move—with no clue or vision of what should be done. The attitude is --how does one get rid of this nuisance, which has disturbed my peace of mind, my sleep, my new year party? The will to save the tiger is sadly lacking, the sorrow at the useless death of this regal creature missing, save in a few officials. It is this attitude that has been the fall of the tiger.
Another crucial factor in this sorry mess has the support of the local people. For them, the tiger initially was a source of amusement—in fact the last victim , Raghu Raj, killed on Wednesday, "had gone in the jungle to see the tiger after dusk, even though he was stopped repeatedly by villagers," according to Rajkumari , resident of Chaubeypur village.
Many a time with the presence of hundreds of villagers—thronging to witness the tamasha caused the tiger to run away, thereby again losing crucial chance to localise and chase the tiger. According to the WII experts, localising the tiger in one place, and minimal disturbance is a must, if the tiger is to be caught.
Confusion reigns supreme. A 'top-level' meeting held on Friday deigned that trapping efforts may continue, and three cages have been set up with help from Wildlife Trust of India, an NGO. But this seems to be at odds with the ground level situation. The DFO of Faizabad Range OP Singh said, "Orders to kill have been issued, and six hunters have been employed for the task."
Harassed, persecuted, and hanged without a fair trial—perhaps the final shot will be the kindest for this ill-fated Panthera tigris.
Chaubeypur (Faizabad):
He is the king….the most powerful predator to walk on earth—till the hand of man sealed his fate. He is now a fugitive-on the run, and condemned to death. He is the 'man-eating' tiger, who is reported to have killed four people—the last on Wednesday night—a man of about 50, Raghuraj. A casual labour, who has left behind a grieving widow, and six children. The anger in the village is palpable—this the second death in five days, and the locals are incensed by what they perceive as the apathy of the forest department in particular, and the government at large. The tiger has been around for nearly a month now—why haven't they been able to get rid of him? Trap him, kill him—whatever—just free them of the terror which haunts the village, and prohibits them from going about their daily rituals—especially at dusk, and thereafter.
And so the death warrant is out—orders have been revoked (they were withdrawn under pressure from the centre and conservationists) to kill the tiger. Preparations have been made for the hunt. Four elephants are on duty to corner the cat. Shooters—two officers from the forest department experienced in killing man-eaters, are stationed on the machan, waiting for their target-to kill the errant royal Bengal tiger. He may be slayed tonight—or maybe a few days later, and India will lose yet another tiger, our national animal, whom we are committed to protect.
But, questions an angry villager, Devi Prasad, "is the life of the tiger more important that the life of man. Don't our lives matter?"
Yes, they do.
Tragedy is—both could have been saved—this catastrophe could have been prevented had the situation been nipped in the bud, dealt with in a more responsible, effective way, rather than the chaotic, foolish manner that has been the order of the day.
One will not go, currently, into how the degraded habitat and declining prey base is causing such severe conflict, but concentrate on the fall of this particular tiger. He is young, maybe two, just about the time when males carve their own territories, and in this process must have strayed into sugarcane fields which surround his forest, Pilibhit. Sugarcane fields are akin to the tiger's natural habitat, not unlike tall grasses in the forest, and the tiger could probably satiate his hunger by livestock, and wild boar which raided the fields. The first killing on November 12 was accidental—and not intentional. The victim, a young boy, would have been mistaken for another prey, and killed. Understandably, a huge hue and cry followed—and an angry public, egged on by the administration, used crackers, etc to chase the tiger. Sources in the state administration say, the only aim was to drive the tiger—and trouble-out of their district—any which way. Unofficially, the guns were out too. And the chase begin in earnest—with the tiger constantly on the run from an angry public—went further, and further away into no tiger's land and human habitation—from Pilibhit to Lakhimpur to Shahjanpur to Sitapur.
.
His next stop, Barabanki proved to be fatal. He killed a teenager on December 21—though this remains in doubt as the victim had been missing since the past four days, and the tiger had killed a neelgai just the night before, making it unlikely that he would attack the dayafter. Quick to react, the DM (though this was quickly denied soon after) announced an award to shoot the tiger—which had all village braves join in the merry hunt. Along with a contingent of forest guards, trackers, officers—over 200 PACs were tracking the tiger with the aim to kill. Orders were issues to shoot the man-eater.
It is this continual persecution that was the crucial error. Harassed constantly by mobs was one way to ensure that the tiger would not be trapped. According to the Wildlife Institute of India report 'trying to localise the tiger by putting baits, minimising disturbance to the animal and intensifying trapping is the best chance to catch the tiger'. Not by hounding him-which stresses the animal, and push him to kill in self-defence.
That way, we create man-eaters. Nor, frankly, has any sincere attempt been made to trap the tiger. The Uttar Pradesh forest department did not have proper or sufficient tranquilizing guns or cages. Experts opined that leg traps-like poachers do to trap-should be used, and then the animal tranquilised, but the administration did not bother. Internal politics delayed decisions—and "attempts to tranquilise were half-hearted, and only to appease the centre, and taken up by one or two officials."
Nor did the public co-operate. "Chase the Tiger' became the latest source of amusement. Controlling the crowds became a task impossible.
People broke counsel not to venture out far after dusk. Raghuraj went into the forest-at dusk-against the advice of villagers. He paid with his life.
As will the tiger.
But as we press the trigger, we may pause to think that he is not the only guilty one.
Appeared in The Pioneer on January 16.
The floowed sotry appeared in The Pioneer, January 18.
Prerna Singh Bindra
Devgaon (Faizabad):
Even as hunters sit on two strategically placed machans waiting for their quarry—the royal Bengal tiger, and irate villagers bay for its blood in Devgaon in Faizabad district, the questions we need to ask is: is this tiger being killed due to the folly of man? Was there any sincere effort at all to capture the tiger? And most significantly has it really killed the people it has been blamed for—particularly, the second incident, in Barabanki. The fatal point for the tiger was December 21, when it made its second 'kill': A 14-year-old boy in Barabanki, not too far from Lucknow. But was the tiger the culprit? The boy had been missing since four days, and the tiger had killed a neelgai just the night before—making it extremely unlikely that it would hunt again the next day. Sources in the police say that it was a case of suspected murder and that the teenager may have been killed by miscreants or due to some internal quarrel, but the "tiger was the fall guy". And even though the local administration, including the forest officials, doubted that this was a tiger killing, no one bothered to investigate, which was the least the situation called for. That the tiger was not a man-eater is indicated from a story narrated by a forest officer, who said that "tiger had killed a goat, but even as the tiger watched, villagers appropriated the kill, and skinned the goat even as the tiger watched. This happened a day or two into the new year. This incident was narrated to us by the villagers, and we also the neatly skinned remains of the goat—a task that could not have been achieved by a tiger-since he cannot use a knife." Importantly, this happened days after the tiger was supposed to have killed the boy in Barabanki.
This is just one among the many tragedies that has plagued the 'man-eater of Barabanki. For over 60 days the UP forest department has been on the trail of this elusive tiger-to chase it, kill it, catch it, shoot it—as the case may be—and herein lies a sorry tale of how mismanagement, lack of conviction and expertise have led to this situation, when we are reduced to slaughtering our national animal by the official gun.
It has been over two months now since the tiger has turned fugitive, it is believed to have strayed from Debriya range in Pilibhit, a newly declared tiger reserve that adjoins Dudhwa. Like most reserves in India this is islanded, and surrounded by sugarcane fields, in which the tiger might have wandered—either to carve its territory since it is a young tiger, or to look for food-livestock, as natural prey has declined drastically with game hunting being a growing problem. This is the season when sugarcane is cut. The loss of cover left the tiger vulnerable, and he might have been chased by terrified villagers. The accidental killing of a young boy on November 10 understandably intensified villager anger. The situation would have not snowballed into the volatile affair it is now, had it been tackled wisely with few experienced experts either driving the tiger towards the forest, or tranquilising it. Instead, the tiger was besieged by angry villagers, forest officials, policemen and confused. Persecuted, and confused, he has walked over 550 km through Pilibhit-Kheri-Shahjahnpur-Sitapur-Barabanki-Faizabad. It has stuck to following the Gomti river downstream , and while these places only have very degraded , fragmented forests, there are enough patches of bushes and grasses to provide cover. But the real reason that he eluded the officials was that there was never any dedicated effort to catch it. The UP forest department simply does not have either the will, or expertise, and the equipment, which is shoddy, at best. The goal throughout has been to chase the tiger away from their district, "as there was pressure from the top that there would be trouble for the administration if the tiger created any problem in their area."
Then came the Barabanki disaster on December 21,--and the hounding became rabid. The tiger was declared man-eater by the Chief Wildlife Warden, and shockingly an award announced by the local administration to shoot the tiger—denied later, but enough to rouse the local heroes to get their guns out and join the chase. Over 200 PAC personnel joined in the hunt. Under pressure from the centre, the order to kill was withdrawn—but there were only half-hearted efforts to tranquilise and capture the tiger—and gave it a fair chance at rehabilitation in the wild, most of them bungled.
In the first place, one needs to question the expertise and the field experience of the officers to tackle such a task—from the Chief Wildlife Warden downwards. "What mattered, even in crucial tasks like tranquilisation, was not skill but political influence," says a source. And vital opportunities to tranquilize were missed. Like in Batauli just before the Barabanki incident—where the tiger was seen-and within shooting distance, but the hand which held the tranquilising gun shook missing the target—and the chance to capture the tiger. Nor did they welcome outside help, but only called for it under pressure from the centre. "The local experts were clearly upset about the presence of the Wildlife Institute of India, which has the scientific expertise for tranquilisation and could have been vital in this exercise," adds the source. One of the wildlife biologists who visited remarked that the way things were being conducted, it would be lucky if they caught a rat, let alone a tiger."
The worst mistake was the constant persecution of the tiger. For nearly 60 days—the tiger has constantly been hounded with hundreds of people. No less than contingent of a dozen cars follow the tiger on the run. Myriads officials discuss, the next move—with no clue or vision of what should be done. The attitude is --how does one get rid of this nuisance, which has disturbed my peace of mind, my sleep, my new year party? The will to save the tiger is sadly lacking, the sorrow at the useless death of this regal creature missing, save in a few officials. It is this attitude that has been the fall of the tiger.
Another crucial factor in this sorry mess has the support of the local people. For them, the tiger initially was a source of amusement—in fact the last victim , Raghu Raj, killed on Wednesday, "had gone in the jungle to see the tiger after dusk, even though he was stopped repeatedly by villagers," according to Rajkumari , resident of Chaubeypur village.
Many a time with the presence of hundreds of villagers—thronging to witness the tamasha caused the tiger to run away, thereby again losing crucial chance to localise and chase the tiger. According to the WII experts, localising the tiger in one place, and minimal disturbance is a must, if the tiger is to be caught.
Confusion reigns supreme. A 'top-level' meeting held on Friday deigned that trapping efforts may continue, and three cages have been set up with help from Wildlife Trust of India, an NGO. But this seems to be at odds with the ground level situation. The DFO of Faizabad Range OP Singh said, "Orders to kill have been issued, and six hunters have been employed for the task."
Harassed, persecuted, and hanged without a fair trial—perhaps the final shot will be the kindest for this ill-fated Panthera tigris.
Monday, January 12, 2009
The last Tiger
Systemic failure has led to a crisis situation in Panna, shrinking the tiger population beyond recovery. Prerna Singh Bindra reports
A tigress with two cubs — about eight-months-old has been sighted,” the director of Panna Tiger Reserve, LK Choudhary, tells me on the last day of 2008. His statement has the impact of a bombshell — there has been no tigress in Panna for over two years — none. And just one tiger — though expectedly, the officials claim otherwise. The last known tigress was killed — poisoned (see picture) in May 2006, just one in a series of poaching the park has been plagued with for the past six years.
I feel elated — maybe there was some hope for the tigers of Panna, maybe Panna will live to see the Generation Next of tigers, maybe Panna isn’t another Sariska, after all.
But the euphoria lasts only a moment. Faith is hard to come by — especially in Panna where officials have been fabricating tigers, inflating numbers ever since their population started to fall. I wish the news were true, but consider this: for two years, there has been no signs of a tigress in Panna — no pugmarks — no mating calls, no sighting, so much so that even the State Government — which has been crying itself hoarse about the fecundity of tigers, and tigresses, in Panna requested the centre for permission to ‘import’ two tigress from other reserves in Madhya Pradesh.
I visited the spot in the Rajabariya range, at the edge of the reserve — where the tigress and cubs were ‘sighted’, met the forest guards, three of them, who vouched they had seen tigress and cubs. Great, but where are the pugmarks of the happy family? Strange, in a park where pugmarks are so rare that metal baskets are kept upside down, to shield and maintain them for weeks thereafter. How come her existence wasn’t detected, in a park desperate to ‘prove’ its tigers? A tiger family can’t materialise out of thin air. If she was in the reserve all this time, what would it say about the patrolling and monitoring in the park that her presence has gone unnoticed, especially if she is with cubs. A tigress with cubs needs to hunt frequently, with hungry mouths to feed, and would move within a relatively small territory — and it would require quite an effort, for such a tigress to go unnoticed. This one, then, is either a phantom tigress, or yet another one born out of the desperate imagination of the management.
Such a shame for a park, that not too long ago, boasted a density of nearly seven tigers per 100 square km. Today, the same tiger reserve has been reduced to one tiger, no tigress and zero cub survival rate.
How did this situation come to be? Here is a brief backgrounder to help understand
In 1996, the density of tigers was 2-3 per 100 sq km. Subsequently, strict protection under a judicious and able management saw a remarkable recovery and by the end of 2001, the density of tigers in Panna had increased to nearly seven for every 100 sq km.
Then, in December 2002, a tigress was found dead on the fringes of Panna TR, killed in a snare set by poachers. In one deadly stroke, the park lost three tigers, for her eight-month-old cubs could not survive without their mother. No.120’s — identfied by the frequency number transmitted by her radio collar — death marked the beginning of the catastrophe that hit Panna thereafter. No. 111, another tigress had not been seen for long, presumed poached. The mangled body of Hairy Foot, a male in his prime, was recovered from a well in June 2003. No. 113, another young tigress had disappeared. No. 123 — I was the last person to have seen her alive — had vanished too.
In February 2005, conservation biologist, Dr Raghu Chundawat, who studied the tigers of Panna for nearly a decade, gave a detailed report that nine tigers and 21 cubs had vanished without a trace. In the same month, the Supreme Court appointed Central Empowered Committee, visited the reserve in response to a writ petition. It pointed out that, “tiger population in 2005 appears to have crashed in the park probably due to poaching. It is necessary to put things right here before it is too late. Otherwise the tiger will never recover here.” This happened in the shadow of Sariska, where tigers had ceased to exist, and the alarming report should have served as a warning.
In a way it did, but more to protect officers, than tigers.
The first step was to have a census in March 2005 — a farcical exercise which rather than paint a true picture, presented a grand total of 35 tigers — 20 females, ten males, and one cub. The numbers were clearly concocted: for example, an area of 100 sq km showed 24 tigers! In case you were unaware, sirs, tigers are not party animals huddling together in one spot, but territorial carnivores. Conservationists cried foul, and consequently, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) conducted a census, and estimated, 8-15 tigers, in about 40 per cent of the park — which was their study area — and had the highest density of tigers. The WII study also showed that 40 per cent of Panna had no tigers, yet the State Government extrapolated the study area population to the entire reserve, and tom-tommed that Panna’s tiger population was a healthy 18-34. Ignoring the fact that a poacher, Mohammed Raees caught in Chattarpur in July 2005, confessed to having traded in eight tigers skins, tiger bones and 30 leopard skins, mainly from Panna, and other reserves in the State. Ignoring that two of the tigers that were captured by the WII camera had already been killed by end of the census.
Even if one were to go by official figures, Panna had lost about 20 tigers since its last census. The density of seven tigers was now down to 3.7. Worse, cub mortality was 100 per cent, none of the cubs were surviving. Did such a sterile park have a future at all?
The root cause of Panna’s downfall was sheer system failure — which refused to respond, or even acknowledge, the crisis. Lacklustre mismanagement, poor protection, misplaced priorities with emphasis on tourism rather than protection — and worst of all — a failure to recognise the critical situation of the reserve. Rather than tackle the crisis, the management concentrated on controlling the criticism and cracking down on the whistleblower — Dr Chundawat’s research permission was withdrawn, his entry into the park prohibited, his vehicle seized. Letters from the forest secretary of MP were even shot off to the CEC stating “to compare Panna with Sariska is unwarranted and unduly alarmist.”
Predictably, the situation only got worse.
So I am here now, in Panna at the cusp of 2009 — and I carry no cheery news — not even of the new miracle tigress — no one believes in her outside of the management, a telling statement of the mistrust the forest department has generated. And even if she exists, and I fervently hope she does — it doesn’t really take away much from the Panna tragedy.
The park is shrouded in despondency. Guides vouch for one tiger, sighting, and signs have come down drastically. The guards prefer not to speak, silenced by their uniform, one even asserts that Panna has never been hit by poachers! I met Kamlesh (name changed, to protect identity. There is the threat of backlash, if they speak. His official quote is 10-12 tigers — as ordained by the forest department), one of the oldest guides of the reserve. He talks of times when sightings were frequent, pugmarks stamped the paths, and tiger calls rumbled over the hills, and down the valleys. Now, he says, the park is silent, deprived of its top predator, save the only, lonely tiger. He worries too, for their business — he is from Madla village — where most households have livelihoods attached to the park — be it as guides, running gypsies, selling farm produce to resorts, or working in them.
I meet the WII scientists as well, here again for another camera — trap survey to ascertain tiger numbers — they do not want to go on record, it has barely been a month, but yes, they admit, the future does not bode well for the tigers of Panna. Those that exist, or don’t.
So how many tigers in Panna, I ask the director, who shies away from an answer — though he quoted 1-15 in a meeting held earlier in December. Admittedly the situation is alarming, he says. “But we have more than one. . Perhaps six, maybe more.” The impression I get is of a management desperate to prove a healthy tiger population in Panna. And though I am shown pugmarks of ‘different’ tigers, I am not too sure — why has only one been sighted for over an year? In Panna, the writing is on the wall, and has been for a long time.
That is Panna’s shame, that in spite of repeated warnings — from researchers, media, and even the SC, we lost, forever, the tigers of Panna. They could have been saved had timely action been taken, but they weren’t. And none has been held accountable for the loss.
There is now a scheme — the Sariska formula, ie, fly in tigers, tigresses rather, to ‘revive’ Panna. Which is all very well — but is the reserve ready to receive a tigress? Admittedly, there has been an improvement in protection — there are more chowkis in the park (even if some are built in what were once meadows, and good wildlife areas), one can see forest guards patrolling on foot, and importantly nine villages have been recently shifted out of the reserve.
But poaching still continues unabated, a langur had been sighted with a noose around its neck around Christmas, and in October a chinkara — India’s smallest antelope was spotted by tourists, its body slashed by bullets from a country gun. I get word that if I want to celebrate the new year, game meat can be arranged...
However, my main issue here is that the management never really accepted the crisis. The chief wildlife warden announced in a meeting in October this year that there were enough tigers in Panna. The field director blames the loss of tigers to the dacoits who had invaded the park between mid-2006 to early 2008. “They were targeting forest officers, our chowkis were burnt,” says Choudhary. Agreed, but the tiger had long been gone, mainly by 2005, much before the dacoits entered the scene. The dacoits just served to deteriorate matters even further. Foresters feared their security, and fled the reserve, and with almost nil vigilance, poachers had a field day, finishing off the last odd tigers, and targeting prey animals.
It doesn’t really matter, whether there is one tiger in Panna, or two, or maybe even three — the point is the numbers fell to beyond recovery. The tragedy of Panna is a lesson to be learnt — to understand why it happened, so that such a catastrophe is not repeated again. We did not learn from Sariska, so Panna happened ... Sadly, we don’t seem to have learnt from Panna too, and I wonder how many other reserves are witnessing the shame of the national animal disappearing off its map.
Appeared in The Pioneer, dated January 11, 2009
A tigress with two cubs — about eight-months-old has been sighted,” the director of Panna Tiger Reserve, LK Choudhary, tells me on the last day of 2008. His statement has the impact of a bombshell — there has been no tigress in Panna for over two years — none. And just one tiger — though expectedly, the officials claim otherwise. The last known tigress was killed — poisoned (see picture) in May 2006, just one in a series of poaching the park has been plagued with for the past six years.
I feel elated — maybe there was some hope for the tigers of Panna, maybe Panna will live to see the Generation Next of tigers, maybe Panna isn’t another Sariska, after all.
But the euphoria lasts only a moment. Faith is hard to come by — especially in Panna where officials have been fabricating tigers, inflating numbers ever since their population started to fall. I wish the news were true, but consider this: for two years, there has been no signs of a tigress in Panna — no pugmarks — no mating calls, no sighting, so much so that even the State Government — which has been crying itself hoarse about the fecundity of tigers, and tigresses, in Panna requested the centre for permission to ‘import’ two tigress from other reserves in Madhya Pradesh.
I visited the spot in the Rajabariya range, at the edge of the reserve — where the tigress and cubs were ‘sighted’, met the forest guards, three of them, who vouched they had seen tigress and cubs. Great, but where are the pugmarks of the happy family? Strange, in a park where pugmarks are so rare that metal baskets are kept upside down, to shield and maintain them for weeks thereafter. How come her existence wasn’t detected, in a park desperate to ‘prove’ its tigers? A tiger family can’t materialise out of thin air. If she was in the reserve all this time, what would it say about the patrolling and monitoring in the park that her presence has gone unnoticed, especially if she is with cubs. A tigress with cubs needs to hunt frequently, with hungry mouths to feed, and would move within a relatively small territory — and it would require quite an effort, for such a tigress to go unnoticed. This one, then, is either a phantom tigress, or yet another one born out of the desperate imagination of the management.
Such a shame for a park, that not too long ago, boasted a density of nearly seven tigers per 100 square km. Today, the same tiger reserve has been reduced to one tiger, no tigress and zero cub survival rate.
How did this situation come to be? Here is a brief backgrounder to help understand
In 1996, the density of tigers was 2-3 per 100 sq km. Subsequently, strict protection under a judicious and able management saw a remarkable recovery and by the end of 2001, the density of tigers in Panna had increased to nearly seven for every 100 sq km.
Then, in December 2002, a tigress was found dead on the fringes of Panna TR, killed in a snare set by poachers. In one deadly stroke, the park lost three tigers, for her eight-month-old cubs could not survive without their mother. No.120’s — identfied by the frequency number transmitted by her radio collar — death marked the beginning of the catastrophe that hit Panna thereafter. No. 111, another tigress had not been seen for long, presumed poached. The mangled body of Hairy Foot, a male in his prime, was recovered from a well in June 2003. No. 113, another young tigress had disappeared. No. 123 — I was the last person to have seen her alive — had vanished too.
In February 2005, conservation biologist, Dr Raghu Chundawat, who studied the tigers of Panna for nearly a decade, gave a detailed report that nine tigers and 21 cubs had vanished without a trace. In the same month, the Supreme Court appointed Central Empowered Committee, visited the reserve in response to a writ petition. It pointed out that, “tiger population in 2005 appears to have crashed in the park probably due to poaching. It is necessary to put things right here before it is too late. Otherwise the tiger will never recover here.” This happened in the shadow of Sariska, where tigers had ceased to exist, and the alarming report should have served as a warning.
In a way it did, but more to protect officers, than tigers.
The first step was to have a census in March 2005 — a farcical exercise which rather than paint a true picture, presented a grand total of 35 tigers — 20 females, ten males, and one cub. The numbers were clearly concocted: for example, an area of 100 sq km showed 24 tigers! In case you were unaware, sirs, tigers are not party animals huddling together in one spot, but territorial carnivores. Conservationists cried foul, and consequently, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) conducted a census, and estimated, 8-15 tigers, in about 40 per cent of the park — which was their study area — and had the highest density of tigers. The WII study also showed that 40 per cent of Panna had no tigers, yet the State Government extrapolated the study area population to the entire reserve, and tom-tommed that Panna’s tiger population was a healthy 18-34. Ignoring the fact that a poacher, Mohammed Raees caught in Chattarpur in July 2005, confessed to having traded in eight tigers skins, tiger bones and 30 leopard skins, mainly from Panna, and other reserves in the State. Ignoring that two of the tigers that were captured by the WII camera had already been killed by end of the census.
Even if one were to go by official figures, Panna had lost about 20 tigers since its last census. The density of seven tigers was now down to 3.7. Worse, cub mortality was 100 per cent, none of the cubs were surviving. Did such a sterile park have a future at all?
The root cause of Panna’s downfall was sheer system failure — which refused to respond, or even acknowledge, the crisis. Lacklustre mismanagement, poor protection, misplaced priorities with emphasis on tourism rather than protection — and worst of all — a failure to recognise the critical situation of the reserve. Rather than tackle the crisis, the management concentrated on controlling the criticism and cracking down on the whistleblower — Dr Chundawat’s research permission was withdrawn, his entry into the park prohibited, his vehicle seized. Letters from the forest secretary of MP were even shot off to the CEC stating “to compare Panna with Sariska is unwarranted and unduly alarmist.”
Predictably, the situation only got worse.
So I am here now, in Panna at the cusp of 2009 — and I carry no cheery news — not even of the new miracle tigress — no one believes in her outside of the management, a telling statement of the mistrust the forest department has generated. And even if she exists, and I fervently hope she does — it doesn’t really take away much from the Panna tragedy.
The park is shrouded in despondency. Guides vouch for one tiger, sighting, and signs have come down drastically. The guards prefer not to speak, silenced by their uniform, one even asserts that Panna has never been hit by poachers! I met Kamlesh (name changed, to protect identity. There is the threat of backlash, if they speak. His official quote is 10-12 tigers — as ordained by the forest department), one of the oldest guides of the reserve. He talks of times when sightings were frequent, pugmarks stamped the paths, and tiger calls rumbled over the hills, and down the valleys. Now, he says, the park is silent, deprived of its top predator, save the only, lonely tiger. He worries too, for their business — he is from Madla village — where most households have livelihoods attached to the park — be it as guides, running gypsies, selling farm produce to resorts, or working in them.
I meet the WII scientists as well, here again for another camera — trap survey to ascertain tiger numbers — they do not want to go on record, it has barely been a month, but yes, they admit, the future does not bode well for the tigers of Panna. Those that exist, or don’t.
So how many tigers in Panna, I ask the director, who shies away from an answer — though he quoted 1-15 in a meeting held earlier in December. Admittedly the situation is alarming, he says. “But we have more than one. . Perhaps six, maybe more.” The impression I get is of a management desperate to prove a healthy tiger population in Panna. And though I am shown pugmarks of ‘different’ tigers, I am not too sure — why has only one been sighted for over an year? In Panna, the writing is on the wall, and has been for a long time.
That is Panna’s shame, that in spite of repeated warnings — from researchers, media, and even the SC, we lost, forever, the tigers of Panna. They could have been saved had timely action been taken, but they weren’t. And none has been held accountable for the loss.
There is now a scheme — the Sariska formula, ie, fly in tigers, tigresses rather, to ‘revive’ Panna. Which is all very well — but is the reserve ready to receive a tigress? Admittedly, there has been an improvement in protection — there are more chowkis in the park (even if some are built in what were once meadows, and good wildlife areas), one can see forest guards patrolling on foot, and importantly nine villages have been recently shifted out of the reserve.
But poaching still continues unabated, a langur had been sighted with a noose around its neck around Christmas, and in October a chinkara — India’s smallest antelope was spotted by tourists, its body slashed by bullets from a country gun. I get word that if I want to celebrate the new year, game meat can be arranged...
However, my main issue here is that the management never really accepted the crisis. The chief wildlife warden announced in a meeting in October this year that there were enough tigers in Panna. The field director blames the loss of tigers to the dacoits who had invaded the park between mid-2006 to early 2008. “They were targeting forest officers, our chowkis were burnt,” says Choudhary. Agreed, but the tiger had long been gone, mainly by 2005, much before the dacoits entered the scene. The dacoits just served to deteriorate matters even further. Foresters feared their security, and fled the reserve, and with almost nil vigilance, poachers had a field day, finishing off the last odd tigers, and targeting prey animals.
It doesn’t really matter, whether there is one tiger in Panna, or two, or maybe even three — the point is the numbers fell to beyond recovery. The tragedy of Panna is a lesson to be learnt — to understand why it happened, so that such a catastrophe is not repeated again. We did not learn from Sariska, so Panna happened ... Sadly, we don’t seem to have learnt from Panna too, and I wonder how many other reserves are witnessing the shame of the national animal disappearing off its map.
Appeared in The Pioneer, dated January 11, 2009
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