SC notice to Centre on tiger poaching

New Delhi, April 25: On an average, one tiger is poached every day in the country and unless effective measures are taken immediately by the...

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New Delhi, April 25: On an average, one tiger is poached every day in the country and unless effective measures are taken immediately by the Centre, the big cats may be extinct in the next few years, according to a petition filed before the Supreme Court by a non-official member of the `Tiger Crisis Cell’ in the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

A division bench comprising Justice Dr A S Anand and Justice Rajendra Babu yesterday issued notices on the petition by Navin M Raheja for a direction to the Union of India, Project Tiger director and the chief secretaries of the states where tigers are found in an attempt to stop widespread poaching.

The petition said the demand for tiger bones in China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and other South-East Asian countries had increased considerably. The bones were being used in traditional Chinese medicine.

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These countries have almost lost their tiger population already and are now procuring supplies of tiger bone clandestinely from India, the petition said.It claimed Project Tiger had failed to deliver the goods with the tiger population declining from 4334 in 1989 to 3750 in 1993 despite an addition of four new tiger reserves.

According to Raheja, the present population of tigers was a meagre 2500. He said tigers were found in 27 states when Project Tiger was launched, but the species had already become extinct in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Pondicherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In Goa, Daman and Diu, Gujarat, Sikkim, Tripura and Manipur, the tiger was believed to have become extinct, he said in the petition.

“If serious and time-bound steps are not taken, it is feared that the tiger may meet the same fate in the remaining states in the next few years,” the petitioner said.

Having tried his best to get the issue addressed by the authorities concerned and with time running out due to alarming rise in poaching, Raheja said he was forced to move the public interest petition for necessary directions. He has sought adirection from the court to the government to convene regular meetings of the Tiger Crisis Cell.

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The petition also seeks closure or shifting of highways, PWD roads as well as revenue roads outside tiger reserves besides relocating the communities illegally occupying the forest areas. Raheja also wants laws pertaining to tiger poaching to be revamped and made more stringent and advocates simplification of the fund allocation system.