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Save the tiger, orders Manmohan
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has rushed to the defence of India's endangered tigers, describing the present situation as a "crisis".
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has rushed to the defence of India's endangered tigers, describing the present situation as a "crisis" and calling for immediate action to save them from being poached.
"Since the launching of Project Tiger, the current situation presents the biggest crisis in the management of our wildlife," Singh said in an official statement.
Singh, who has already written to Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, seeking "immediate remedial action to prevent further deterioration" at the the state's Sariska wildlife sanctuary, is also in consultation with the union environment and forests ministry.
An action plan, which stresses the need for a high-level independent inquiry and a system of autopsy and inquiry for every death of a tiger in a national park, has also been drafted based on consultations with experts, the statement said.
As part of suggestions, Singh has ordered the immediate stoppage of plying of diesel vehicles in the parks, tightening controls for stopping cattle grazing and regulating the number of pilgrims going through the park to visit the Ganesha Temple.
Calling for the construction within a year of an alternate route for the canal that cuts through the Sariska Park, Singh has asked the authorities to prepare a time schedule for the development of fuel, fodder and other necessities for villagers outside wildlife parks.
Singh has also ordered that raids should be carried out on a campaign basis near the parks.
Project Tiger, initiated in 1972 by then prime minister Indira Gandhi, herself a wildlife enthusiast, for the conservation of tigers, maintains 27 tiger reserves that are believed to house 1,498 tigers as per 2003 figures.
But tiger conservationists have of late been casting serious doubts over the figures, since tigers have been reported missing from many of the wildlife sanctuaries.
Almost eight tigers have been reported missing from India's most celebrated tiger reserve at Ranthambore in Rajasthan, and the Sariska Wildlife Reserve reportedly hasn't spotted a single tiger for over eight months.
The ministry of environment and forests Jan 31 issued a notice, directing the wildlife chief of Rajasthan to start 'ground-truthing' the reserve for snares, traps and other hunter objects.
In a bid to ensure complete safety, traffic too has been stopped on a road that cuts through the jungle.
