Mahesh Trivedi (Gujarat Going-on)
17 March 2012
March 19 could be the D-day for the 411
lions of Gujarat’s Gir forest. The Supreme Court has summoned officials
of the Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh (MP) as well as the National Board
for Wildlife in India as it was likely to give its ruling over shifting
of the big cats from its only abode near Junagadh. 17 March 2012
The
relations between the two Bharatiya Janata party-ruled states have been
on the downward slope ever since MP made an aggressive demand for
relocating some of the rare Asiatic lions to its Kuno Palpur sanctuary
for which it has already made elaborate arrangements and spent millions
of rupees.
Gujarat
has been vehemently opposing the idea saying it did not want to lose
its ‘Gujarati pride’ at any cost. Indeed, at a meeting chaired by
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, state wildlife experts
strengthened their resolve to protect the jungle king and vowed not to
share even a few of them with MP under any circumstances.
According
to Sanat Chavan, a former principal chief conservator of forests who
has spent several years in the 1450-square-km, leafy Gir wildlife
sanctuary, MP has a very limited prey base and poaching incidents are
the order of the day. What’s more, while readying the Kuno park, Gujarat
officials, who have been praised for their best conservation efforts,
have neither been consulted nor invited for a visit to see the site
chosen.
Also,
now that the debt-ridden, state-run Tourism Corporation of Gujarat has
been coining money due to massive influx of animal lovers into Gir
following brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan’s publicity campaign, many
believe the cash-strapped Modi regime was unlikely to agree to any plan
for relocation of the majestic animals.
The
Planning Commission has itself approved a project for the “Conservation
of Asiatic lion in Greater Gir Region” to be implemented by the Gujarat
government by 2017 at a cost of Rs2.6 billion, including the Central
assistance of Rs2.3 billion, and the project also includes creation of
infrastructure for the promotion of eco-tourism in the Gir forest.
But
according to MP, keeping all the endangered lions in only one place was
putting the dumb denizens into a death trap as an epidemic could wipe
out the entire population of this last remaining species.
MP
has also argued that the predators are outgrowing the claustrophobic
forest and have nowhere to go, often resulting in attacks on human
beings in the villages on the periphery of the jungle.
MP
has won half the battle when the apex court recently observed that the
carnivores are not the “property” of the state, but belong to the
country, adding that no state could claim the right over an animal
merely because it is housed in a particular state.
The
National Board for Wildlife in India is also in favour of shifting a
few prides of the Asiatic lions, much smaller than their African
cousins, if only to maintain genetic diversity.
Source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2012/March/international_March629.xml§ion=international&col=
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