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Top Ranthambhore officials removed: Action follows Express report on Park killings
20 November, 2005
Taking note of The Sunday Express report on the killing on tigers inside Ranthambhore National Park, the Rajasthan government today transferred the two top forest officials of the Park.
Conservator of Forest Shafat Hussein and deputy field director G S Bhardwaj have been asked to relinquish charge with immediate effect. ‘‘Both officials have been put on APO (Awaiting Posting Order). The CM is keen to fix accountability and has signed the order on a Sunday,’’ Rajasthan Chief Wildlife Warden R N Mehrotra told The Indian Express. While R S Shekawat will immediately take charge as DFO, the new Conservator may be named tomorrow.
Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has also convened a high-level meeting tomorrow to discuss the crisis. The Sunday Express reported how three poachers had confessed to killing 10 Ranthambhore tigers since 2003 and named another seven who had taken out at least a dozen more.
‘‘We will work in close coordination with the police department and, like we have done in Sariska, hope to bust the entire racket here very soon,’’ Mehrotra said. Meanwhile, a joint team of CID crime branch, Kota (Rural) police and Sawai Madhopur police raided villages around the Park in search of suspects named by poachers in custody.
Taking note of The Sunday Express report on the killing on tigers inside Ranthambhore National Park, the Rajasthan government today transferred the two top forest officials of the Park.
Conservator of Forest Shafat Hussein and deputy field director G S Bhardwaj have been asked to relinquish charge with immediate effect. ‘‘Both officials have been put on APO (Awaiting Posting Order). The CM is keen to fix accountability and has signed the order on a Sunday,’’ Rajasthan Chief Wildlife Warden R N Mehrotra told The Indian Express. While R S Shekawat will immediately take charge as DFO, the new Conservator may be named tomorrow.
Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has also convened a high-level meeting tomorrow to discuss the crisis. The Sunday Express reported how three poachers had confessed to killing 10 Ranthambhore tigers since 2003 and named another seven who had taken out at least a dozen more.
‘‘We will work in close coordination with the police department and, like we have done in Sariska, hope to bust the entire racket here very soon,’’ Mehrotra said. Meanwhile, a joint team of CID crime branch, Kota (Rural) police and Sawai Madhopur police raided villages around the Park in search of suspects named by poachers in custody.
'Ten of us, we killed at least 22 tigers'
Three hunters confess to killing 10 tigers, name seven who poached a dozen more. A stunned police now wonder what the 273 staff at Ranthambhore were doing. The Sunday Express, which first exposed the vanishing tiger, travels to Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to meet, first hand, the men, who the cops say, took out the Ranthambhore tiger. And finds out that their startling testimony could hide more than it reveals
19 November, 2005
They are shocking in their frankness: "Jangal ke andar ghumte rahte the hum. Sher ka panja milne par per pe baith jate. Raat ko mar ke chale jaate aur subah jaake khaal nikalte the." ("We roamed in the forest looking for tiger pugmarks. Once we had spotted them, we would take position on trees. We hunted in the night and returned in the morning to skin the tiger.")
That's how three poachers, by their own admission, killed at least 22 tigers in Ranthambhore since 2003 right under the nose of 273 forest staff that guard India's most famous tiger reserve.
Ever since the tiger count in Ranthambhore fell from 47 to 26 in less than two years, officials in New Delhi and Rajasthan have been wary of attributing it to poaching.
They can't any more.
Working on leads from wildlife activists, a crack team of the Rajasthan Police has arrested three Moghiya tribal poachers who have confessed to killing 10 Ranthambhore tigers. They have named another seven who, according to them, have taken out at least 12 more tigers during the same period.
While Prithviraj alias Pirthia confessed to killing one tiger, Kesra and Devi Singh say they killed four and five big cats respectively. Pirthia and Kesra are tribals from Kota and Bundi in Rajasthan; Devi is a sarpanch of Dhamni village in adjacent Sheopur in Madhya Pradesh.
Interviews with the police and these three alleged poachers by The Sunday Express reveal a method remarkably simple:
They operated from villages, like Uliana, right next to the national park.
Their weapon of choice: muzzle-loading guns although in one case, metal traps were also used.
Didn't the guards act as a deterrent? Says Devi Singh: "Yes, we came across them but they never intercepted any of us." He confessed to even firing guns within a few hundred yards of forest chowkies. Why didn't anybody come checking? "Pata nahin (Don't know)," is his answer.
Kesra, who says he killed four tigers, is more forthcoming. "My in-law has good contacts and forest guards never told us anything while we moved around in the jungle)," he told The Sunday Express.
All of them say they supplied tiger skins and bones to one Azad in Madhya Pradesh who is now the target of a massive police hunt. While a tiger fetched Rs 60,000, a tigress would bring anything between Rs 40-50,000, depending on her length. They also poached leopards at will, each for just Rs 15,000.
Pirthia and his father were arrested on November 2 from their village, Ashok Nagar Kanwad, 100 km from Kota under Itawah police station. Police said the family had several wildlife items including tiger whiskers and bear claws.
Kesra was present at Pirthia's residence and was also picked up. During interrogation, he named Devi Singh.
"The network extends from Sawai Madhopur to interiors of Madhya Pradesh. We hope to make more arrests soon," said Alok Bashisht, SP, Kota (rural), who is heading the investigation.
"During interrogation, we were surprised to know how these poachers had such free access to the forests. They seemed very confident and even travelled by jeep. We will know exactly how deep inside the national park they ventured to once we take them for spot verification," said IG (crime) Ajit Singh Sekhawat who is monitoring the investigation from Jaipur.
While police work on these confession statements, one thing is clear: if there is one thing these poachers have made clear, it's the ineffectiveness of the official machinery.
Not without reason.
The average age of the Ranthambhore ground staff is 49. The last recruitment took place 15 years ago. How tuned the staff was to the poaching is evident by DFO G S Bhardwaj's presentation to the PM during his visit to Ranthambhore on May 22 this year: Everything is in order, he said.
This denial wasn't new. When The Sunday Express first reported that 18 tigers had gone missing in Ranthambhore, Project Tiger director Rajesh Gopal and DG (wildlife) R P Katyal dismissed the report. But after other national parks began reporting the same trend, officials were eventually forced to conduct a joint tiger census involving independent organisations.
In July, the census established that the tiger population was indeed down by 21. Besides, Census figures showed that seven tigers went missing in the adjoining Palpur-Kuno sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh during the same period.
Anticipating resistance from villagers, nine policemen visited Dhamni village, near Sheopur, in two vehicles, posing as PWD officials.
They asked Sarpanch Devi Singh (in photo) to join them for a quick inspection of sadak yojana work saying the Collector would survey it the next morning.
Once Devi Singh came out of the village, the police team whisked him away.
On November 10, interrogation began at Itawah PS and the sarpanch said he had killed five tigers. He named other poachers operating in Ranthambhore.
The weapons have been recovered. Devi Singh will be in police remand until Nov 24, the others are in custody
Others in the Net
March 16, 2005: A gang of suspected poachers confessed to killing at least 10 tigers in Sariska during 2002-2004. All in custody. Trial yet to begin.
June 30: Sansar Chand, India's most wanted wildlife criminal, was arrested in west Delhi. Wanted by 9 states in over 50 cases of poaching and skin smuggling. Named by CBI in report on the disappearance of Sariska tigers.
July 29: Arrested by Chhattarpur (MP) police, Raees and Yusuf confessed to selling five tiger and 29 leopard skins from Panna
19 November, 2005
They are shocking in their frankness: "Jangal ke andar ghumte rahte the hum. Sher ka panja milne par per pe baith jate. Raat ko mar ke chale jaate aur subah jaake khaal nikalte the." ("We roamed in the forest looking for tiger pugmarks. Once we had spotted them, we would take position on trees. We hunted in the night and returned in the morning to skin the tiger.")
That's how three poachers, by their own admission, killed at least 22 tigers in Ranthambhore since 2003 right under the nose of 273 forest staff that guard India's most famous tiger reserve.
Ever since the tiger count in Ranthambhore fell from 47 to 26 in less than two years, officials in New Delhi and Rajasthan have been wary of attributing it to poaching.
They can't any more.
Working on leads from wildlife activists, a crack team of the Rajasthan Police has arrested three Moghiya tribal poachers who have confessed to killing 10 Ranthambhore tigers. They have named another seven who, according to them, have taken out at least 12 more tigers during the same period.
While Prithviraj alias Pirthia confessed to killing one tiger, Kesra and Devi Singh say they killed four and five big cats respectively. Pirthia and Kesra are tribals from Kota and Bundi in Rajasthan; Devi is a sarpanch of Dhamni village in adjacent Sheopur in Madhya Pradesh.
Interviews with the police and these three alleged poachers by The Sunday Express reveal a method remarkably simple:
They operated from villages, like Uliana, right next to the national park.
Their weapon of choice: muzzle-loading guns although in one case, metal traps were also used.
Didn't the guards act as a deterrent? Says Devi Singh: "Yes, we came across them but they never intercepted any of us." He confessed to even firing guns within a few hundred yards of forest chowkies. Why didn't anybody come checking? "Pata nahin (Don't know)," is his answer.
Kesra, who says he killed four tigers, is more forthcoming. "My in-law has good contacts and forest guards never told us anything while we moved around in the jungle)," he told The Sunday Express.
All of them say they supplied tiger skins and bones to one Azad in Madhya Pradesh who is now the target of a massive police hunt. While a tiger fetched Rs 60,000, a tigress would bring anything between Rs 40-50,000, depending on her length. They also poached leopards at will, each for just Rs 15,000.
Pirthia and his father were arrested on November 2 from their village, Ashok Nagar Kanwad, 100 km from Kota under Itawah police station. Police said the family had several wildlife items including tiger whiskers and bear claws.
Kesra was present at Pirthia's residence and was also picked up. During interrogation, he named Devi Singh.
"The network extends from Sawai Madhopur to interiors of Madhya Pradesh. We hope to make more arrests soon," said Alok Bashisht, SP, Kota (rural), who is heading the investigation.
"During interrogation, we were surprised to know how these poachers had such free access to the forests. They seemed very confident and even travelled by jeep. We will know exactly how deep inside the national park they ventured to once we take them for spot verification," said IG (crime) Ajit Singh Sekhawat who is monitoring the investigation from Jaipur.
While police work on these confession statements, one thing is clear: if there is one thing these poachers have made clear, it's the ineffectiveness of the official machinery.
Not without reason.
The average age of the Ranthambhore ground staff is 49. The last recruitment took place 15 years ago. How tuned the staff was to the poaching is evident by DFO G S Bhardwaj's presentation to the PM during his visit to Ranthambhore on May 22 this year: Everything is in order, he said.
This denial wasn't new. When The Sunday Express first reported that 18 tigers had gone missing in Ranthambhore, Project Tiger director Rajesh Gopal and DG (wildlife) R P Katyal dismissed the report. But after other national parks began reporting the same trend, officials were eventually forced to conduct a joint tiger census involving independent organisations.
In July, the census established that the tiger population was indeed down by 21. Besides, Census figures showed that seven tigers went missing in the adjoining Palpur-Kuno sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh during the same period.
Anticipating resistance from villagers, nine policemen visited Dhamni village, near Sheopur, in two vehicles, posing as PWD officials.
They asked Sarpanch Devi Singh (in photo) to join them for a quick inspection of sadak yojana work saying the Collector would survey it the next morning.
Once Devi Singh came out of the village, the police team whisked him away.
On November 10, interrogation began at Itawah PS and the sarpanch said he had killed five tigers. He named other poachers operating in Ranthambhore.
The weapons have been recovered. Devi Singh will be in police remand until Nov 24, the others are in custody
Others in the Net
March 16, 2005: A gang of suspected poachers confessed to killing at least 10 tigers in Sariska during 2002-2004. All in custody. Trial yet to begin.
June 30: Sansar Chand, India's most wanted wildlife criminal, was arrested in west Delhi. Wanted by 9 states in over 50 cases of poaching and skin smuggling. Named by CBI in report on the disappearance of Sariska tigers.
July 29: Arrested by Chhattarpur (MP) police, Raees and Yusuf confessed to selling five tiger and 29 leopard skins from Panna
‘Aim for the heart, four fingers away from the shoulder’
19 November, 2005
Devi Singh never missed his mark. He has been a well-to-do Moghiya tribal who became a sarpanch one-and-half year back and runs a shuttle jeep to district headquarter Sheopur in Madhya Pradesh. He has two wives, a motorcycle, and two houses in two adjacent villages, Dhamni and Angora. His elder son has been to the local school before he was big enough to look after his father’s agricultural land.
Devi Singh loves the challenge of his muzzle-loading gun. It gives him just one chance at a time. During last two years or so, he used it on tigers on five occasions. Be it twilight or moonlight, he never needed to fire one extra round. Five striped skins were his for just five country-made bullets.
Like most men in his community, Devi Singh hunted for bush meat. For Moghiya and Bagri tribals, it is a way of life. Traditionally, farmers hire them to protect their crop in the night. And the Moghiyas kill whatever comes their way—usually deer and wild boars. Devi Singh’s second wife belongs to Rajasthan but more than the hospitality at his in-law’s place in Uliana, he loved the bounty the adjacent forests of Ranthambhore National Park offered. His shooting skill made him a hero of sorts and he often camped at Uliana for months together, hunting spotted deer and wild boars.
Then, one evening, he met Azad. The villagers never knew much about Azad, except for the fact that the man used to visit them with promises of what seemed to them big money in exchange for tiger or leopard skin and bones. Once Devi Singh felt greedy, there was no stopping the man revered as the shikari in his community.
Devi Singh targeted the Pilighati area, about a kilometer from Uliana. With his brother Mukesh, sisters-in-law Rup and Bhola and nephew Bablu, he used to comb the jungle for pugmarks and hunt tigers from trees after sundown. The first one was a 7-foot male. Devi Singh still remembers he was on a Jamun tree. The bullet pierced the heart and the animal died within minutes.
"Pasli me, kandhe se char anguli piche, dil pe marna parta. Sher awoon awoon karta rehta hai jab tak pran na nikal jaye (Aim for the heart four fingers below the shoulder, the tiger cries till it dies),’’ he explained to The Indian Express. No tiger survived more than 15 minutes after being shot. Sometimes, Devi Singh and his team had to wait for hours atop trees. Sometimes, the tiger showed up within minutes of taking position. The men usually returned in the morning to skin the carcass. They disposed off the flesh, carried the skin and bones and dug the booty in the village field. Then Devi Singh used to call Azad from the nearest telephone booth at Kundera village. The code (bolibhasha) to guard the message from the booth operator was simple: "Bada kar diya (Done a big one).’’
Next he used to pack the skin in a bag or suitcase and take a bus to Sawai Madhopur, about one hour from Uliana. Another bus and a little over two hours would take Devi Singh to Sheopur. Here he would board the afternoon train and reach Tentra by seven in the evening. The handover would take place near a nallah outside the village.
Why Tentra? "Thoda out si hai, log nahin hota us jagah," he explained. Bulk of the payment was made on the delivery of the skin. Devi Singh would again return with the bones — by now treated with salt etc — in a few weeks and collect the rest.
Besides killing five tigers himself, Devi Singh also guided other poachers in the trade. He was the person Kesra contacted after killing his first tiger. Devi Singh took the skin from him for just Rs 38,000 and sold it to Azad for Rs 60,000.
Kesra, a Moghiya tribal, was lured to the trade by his in-laws, all Bagri tribals, and made base south of Ranthambhore. Once he personally came to know Azad, he used to deliver skins to him directly at Sawai Madhopur railway station, usually near the ticket counter. A poor landed Moghiya, Kesra admitted he was tempted by the lure of easy money. "Das-das hazar ek ek ko milta tha. Mushkil nahin tha marna. Baas thoda time lagta tha," he told The Indian Express.
Pirthia, a small-time hunter, killed his only tiger after coming in contact with Kesra and passed on the skin to him. While both Devi Singh and Kesra claimed that they didn’t hunt in recent months, they didn’t rule out the chances of others still continuing in the trade. But didn’t they feel bad killing tigers? Kesra softened up a bit: "Teen bachcha hai, paisa chahiye tha. Aadmi se galti ho jata hai (Had three children, needed the money. People do make mistakes)." But Devi Singh looked surprised: "Paisa milta hai to achcha lagta hai, dukh thodi lagta hai (You feel nice when you get money, there’s no sorrow)."
Devi Singh never missed his mark. He has been a well-to-do Moghiya tribal who became a sarpanch one-and-half year back and runs a shuttle jeep to district headquarter Sheopur in Madhya Pradesh. He has two wives, a motorcycle, and two houses in two adjacent villages, Dhamni and Angora. His elder son has been to the local school before he was big enough to look after his father’s agricultural land.
Devi Singh loves the challenge of his muzzle-loading gun. It gives him just one chance at a time. During last two years or so, he used it on tigers on five occasions. Be it twilight or moonlight, he never needed to fire one extra round. Five striped skins were his for just five country-made bullets.
Like most men in his community, Devi Singh hunted for bush meat. For Moghiya and Bagri tribals, it is a way of life. Traditionally, farmers hire them to protect their crop in the night. And the Moghiyas kill whatever comes their way—usually deer and wild boars. Devi Singh’s second wife belongs to Rajasthan but more than the hospitality at his in-law’s place in Uliana, he loved the bounty the adjacent forests of Ranthambhore National Park offered. His shooting skill made him a hero of sorts and he often camped at Uliana for months together, hunting spotted deer and wild boars.
Then, one evening, he met Azad. The villagers never knew much about Azad, except for the fact that the man used to visit them with promises of what seemed to them big money in exchange for tiger or leopard skin and bones. Once Devi Singh felt greedy, there was no stopping the man revered as the shikari in his community.
Devi Singh targeted the Pilighati area, about a kilometer from Uliana. With his brother Mukesh, sisters-in-law Rup and Bhola and nephew Bablu, he used to comb the jungle for pugmarks and hunt tigers from trees after sundown. The first one was a 7-foot male. Devi Singh still remembers he was on a Jamun tree. The bullet pierced the heart and the animal died within minutes.
"Pasli me, kandhe se char anguli piche, dil pe marna parta. Sher awoon awoon karta rehta hai jab tak pran na nikal jaye (Aim for the heart four fingers below the shoulder, the tiger cries till it dies),’’ he explained to The Indian Express. No tiger survived more than 15 minutes after being shot. Sometimes, Devi Singh and his team had to wait for hours atop trees. Sometimes, the tiger showed up within minutes of taking position. The men usually returned in the morning to skin the carcass. They disposed off the flesh, carried the skin and bones and dug the booty in the village field. Then Devi Singh used to call Azad from the nearest telephone booth at Kundera village. The code (bolibhasha) to guard the message from the booth operator was simple: "Bada kar diya (Done a big one).’’
Next he used to pack the skin in a bag or suitcase and take a bus to Sawai Madhopur, about one hour from Uliana. Another bus and a little over two hours would take Devi Singh to Sheopur. Here he would board the afternoon train and reach Tentra by seven in the evening. The handover would take place near a nallah outside the village.
Why Tentra? "Thoda out si hai, log nahin hota us jagah," he explained. Bulk of the payment was made on the delivery of the skin. Devi Singh would again return with the bones — by now treated with salt etc — in a few weeks and collect the rest.
Besides killing five tigers himself, Devi Singh also guided other poachers in the trade. He was the person Kesra contacted after killing his first tiger. Devi Singh took the skin from him for just Rs 38,000 and sold it to Azad for Rs 60,000.
Kesra, a Moghiya tribal, was lured to the trade by his in-laws, all Bagri tribals, and made base south of Ranthambhore. Once he personally came to know Azad, he used to deliver skins to him directly at Sawai Madhopur railway station, usually near the ticket counter. A poor landed Moghiya, Kesra admitted he was tempted by the lure of easy money. "Das-das hazar ek ek ko milta tha. Mushkil nahin tha marna. Baas thoda time lagta tha," he told The Indian Express.
Pirthia, a small-time hunter, killed his only tiger after coming in contact with Kesra and passed on the skin to him. While both Devi Singh and Kesra claimed that they didn’t hunt in recent months, they didn’t rule out the chances of others still continuing in the trade. But didn’t they feel bad killing tigers? Kesra softened up a bit: "Teen bachcha hai, paisa chahiye tha. Aadmi se galti ho jata hai (Had three children, needed the money. People do make mistakes)." But Devi Singh looked surprised: "Paisa milta hai to achcha lagta hai, dukh thodi lagta hai (You feel nice when you get money, there’s no sorrow)."
Environment Minister writes to PM: PMO order is not what you ordered
Tribal rights: Bring us into the debate, you had asked for draft Bill: Raja
25 October, 2005
Being abruptly cut out of the debate on the contentious tribal Bill, a debate it has high stakes in, the Ministry of Environment has officially complained to the Prime Minister.
Told by the PMO on October 4 to stop work on its ‘‘alternative draft’’ Bill on tribal rights, Union Environment Minister A Raja has written to the PM saying that the ‘‘note from your office (the Oct 4 order)...I feel, is inconsistent with the decisions taken in the meeting held by you on 30 September.’’
Raja’s letter is being seen as a last-ditch effort by his Ministry to get itself heard in the meeting convened by the PMO on October 28 to finalise the draft Tribal Bill.
In his letter, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, Raja reminds the PM that it was the Cabinet Committee on Tribal Affairs—formed by the PM himself—that had asked his Ministry to draft a bill.
And that a meeting held by the PM on September 30 had concluded that "the Environment Ministry and the Department of Tribal Affairs would discuss their respective versions of the Bill, and attempt at an agreed draft, to be discussed in a workshop convened by the PMO.’’
But barely four days later, as first reported by The Indian Express, the PMO sent a note asking Raja’s Ministry ‘‘not to proceed’’ with work on the draft Bill.
The key difference between the two drafts revolves around giving land rights in national parks and sanctuaries to local tribal residents. The Environment Ministry has opposed the Tribal Affairs Ministry’s Bill.
25 October, 2005
Being abruptly cut out of the debate on the contentious tribal Bill, a debate it has high stakes in, the Ministry of Environment has officially complained to the Prime Minister.
Told by the PMO on October 4 to stop work on its ‘‘alternative draft’’ Bill on tribal rights, Union Environment Minister A Raja has written to the PM saying that the ‘‘note from your office (the Oct 4 order)...I feel, is inconsistent with the decisions taken in the meeting held by you on 30 September.’’
Raja’s letter is being seen as a last-ditch effort by his Ministry to get itself heard in the meeting convened by the PMO on October 28 to finalise the draft Tribal Bill.
In his letter, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, Raja reminds the PM that it was the Cabinet Committee on Tribal Affairs—formed by the PM himself—that had asked his Ministry to draft a bill.
And that a meeting held by the PM on September 30 had concluded that "the Environment Ministry and the Department of Tribal Affairs would discuss their respective versions of the Bill, and attempt at an agreed draft, to be discussed in a workshop convened by the PMO.’’
But barely four days later, as first reported by The Indian Express, the PMO sent a note asking Raja’s Ministry ‘‘not to proceed’’ with work on the draft Bill.
The key difference between the two drafts revolves around giving land rights in national parks and sanctuaries to local tribal residents. The Environment Ministry has opposed the Tribal Affairs Ministry’s Bill.
For a ‘greener’ law on tribal rights, PM proposes, PMO disposes
Cabinet asked Environment Ministry for alternative draft, PM got it distributed but his office scrapped it
21 October, 2005
How does a 20-page draft Bill on a crucial subject like tribal rights over forest land get reduced to a two-page, five-point ‘‘input’’? When the Prime Minister himself asked to see the entire Bill? Ask the Prime Minister’s Office.
As early as August 25, after opposition by environmental groups to the draft tribal rights Bill prepared by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the government asked the Environment Ministry—which also opposed the Bill—to come up with its ‘‘alternative draft.’’
The key objection revolved around the issue of giving land rights in national parks and sanctuaries to local tribal residents. The Prime Minister’s idea was to look at both draft Bills and come up with a revised new law that took into account tribal rights and conservation concerns.
But official records with The Indian Express show how barely four days after the Environment Ministry presented its draft Bill to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the PMO sent the Ministry a note asking it ‘‘not to proceed with the preparation with any draft bill.’’
‘‘We made a comprehensive draft for the Cabinet Committee. Then we are told by the PMO not to proceed with it. We are disappointed. Our draft bill addresses the concerns of the Prime Minister who wanted to know what was the way out at the September 30 meeting. We will offer our solutions again at the next meeting (on October 28) to reach a consensus," JC Kala, director general, forests, told The Indian Express.
The sequence of events behind this curious rethink:
= On August 25, the Cabinet Committee on Tribal Affairs, chaired by Home Minister Shivraj Patil, asked the Environment Ministry to prepare an alternative draft.
= This draft was presented at a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister on September 30. According to MoEF sources, the Prime Minister asked his officials to get copies of the new draft distributed among the participants —ministry officials and independent experts—and wanted a consensus between the two ministries.
= On October 4, Environment Minister A Raja gave a copy of the draft to Patil explaining how it addressed the concerns raised by the Prime Minister at the September 30 meet.
‘‘Kindly peruse the Draft Bill of my Ministry and give us an opportunity to steer it through for enactment,’’ Raja wrote to Patil.
= However, the same day, R Gopalakrishnan, joint secretary in the PMO, sent Raja’s ministry a note asking it not to proceed with any draft bill. ‘‘The draft Bill prepared by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs comprehensively addresses the issue,’’ he wrote, adding, in bold letters, that this "course of action" had the Prime Minister’s approval. Despite several attempts, Gopalakrishnan was not available for comment. On October 10, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs asked the MoEF for its input on the original draft bill. In response, the MoEF sent a five point two-page input on 12 October.
21 October, 2005
How does a 20-page draft Bill on a crucial subject like tribal rights over forest land get reduced to a two-page, five-point ‘‘input’’? When the Prime Minister himself asked to see the entire Bill? Ask the Prime Minister’s Office.
As early as August 25, after opposition by environmental groups to the draft tribal rights Bill prepared by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the government asked the Environment Ministry—which also opposed the Bill—to come up with its ‘‘alternative draft.’’
The key objection revolved around the issue of giving land rights in national parks and sanctuaries to local tribal residents. The Prime Minister’s idea was to look at both draft Bills and come up with a revised new law that took into account tribal rights and conservation concerns.
But official records with The Indian Express show how barely four days after the Environment Ministry presented its draft Bill to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the PMO sent the Ministry a note asking it ‘‘not to proceed with the preparation with any draft bill.’’
‘‘We made a comprehensive draft for the Cabinet Committee. Then we are told by the PMO not to proceed with it. We are disappointed. Our draft bill addresses the concerns of the Prime Minister who wanted to know what was the way out at the September 30 meeting. We will offer our solutions again at the next meeting (on October 28) to reach a consensus," JC Kala, director general, forests, told The Indian Express.
The sequence of events behind this curious rethink:
= On August 25, the Cabinet Committee on Tribal Affairs, chaired by Home Minister Shivraj Patil, asked the Environment Ministry to prepare an alternative draft.
= This draft was presented at a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister on September 30. According to MoEF sources, the Prime Minister asked his officials to get copies of the new draft distributed among the participants —ministry officials and independent experts—and wanted a consensus between the two ministries.
= On October 4, Environment Minister A Raja gave a copy of the draft to Patil explaining how it addressed the concerns raised by the Prime Minister at the September 30 meet.
‘‘Kindly peruse the Draft Bill of my Ministry and give us an opportunity to steer it through for enactment,’’ Raja wrote to Patil.
= However, the same day, R Gopalakrishnan, joint secretary in the PMO, sent Raja’s ministry a note asking it not to proceed with any draft bill. ‘‘The draft Bill prepared by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs comprehensively addresses the issue,’’ he wrote, adding, in bold letters, that this "course of action" had the Prime Minister’s approval. Despite several attempts, Gopalakrishnan was not available for comment. On October 10, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs asked the MoEF for its input on the original draft bill. In response, the MoEF sent a five point two-page input on 12 October.
Indian tiger skins flooding Tibet blackmarket
Last month, London environmental agency found shop after shop in Lhasa with stocks
7 September, 2005
Despite the red alert sounded by the Ministry of Environment and Forests across the country, the trade in tiger and other big cat skins from India is flourishing alarmingly in Tibet and adjoining areas of China. With increased supplies of tiger, leopard and otter skins, many new shops have sprung up in what is arguably the world’s single largest wildlife blackmarket.These are some of the startling findings of an ongoing survey conducted by the London-based Environmental Investigative Agency (EIA) with the help of the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI).
The survey report will be released later this month but sources confirmed that the situation has only worsened since October 2003 when China’s Anti-Smuggling Bureau intercepted a truck in their ‘‘Tibetan Autonomous Region’’ that was carrying a consignment of 31 tiger, 581 leopard and 778 otter skins from India.
‘‘This has been an extensive survey and we also covered new areas. We will start analysing our data before we finalise the report,’’ EIA’s senior campaigner Debbie Banks told The Indian Express.
Conducted last month, the key findings of the recent survey are:
= Both the open sale and use of fresh tiger, leopard and otter skins is even more widespread than last year.
= All dealers the team talked to said the skins had come from India.
= In Lhasa, many new shops were openly selling tiger and leopard skin chubas — a traditional Tibetan outfit. At one shop, the team found three fresh tiger skins — priced up to Rs 5.4 lakh each — and seven fresh leopard skins for sale. All these skins were said to have been smuggled from India.
= Most Tibetans wearing chubas claimed they had purchased the outfits during the past two seasons.
= Only 10 shops in the main Barkhor circuit stocked 24 tiger skin chubas. Another 20 stocked 54 leopard skin chubas. There are a total of 46 shops in the market.
= A large number of leopard and snow leopard skins were also found on the streets of Linxia.
= The over-all situation is much worse than what was found during the EIA survey last year.
‘‘The survey confirms without doubt that there is large-scale poaching of tigers and leopards in India whose skins are smuggled to Tibet,’’ said WPSI’s Belinda Wrights, also a member of Rajasthan’s State Empowered Committee (SEC) on Forest and Wildlife Management.
Wrights has pointed out some of the preliminary findings in the panel’s report that was presented to Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje this evening in Jaipur. Among other recommendations, the SEC report has emphasized the need to curb cross-border smuggling in wildlife objects.
‘‘We were told that the Tibetan chuba is exempted from the law even if it is adorned with an entire tiger skin. In Linxia, traders claimed that in the Hui Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu Province, there is a special policy that allows them to openly sell skins,’’ wrote WPSI’s Wrights in the SEC report.
The information gathered by the EIA/WPSI team has been passed on to the Chinese authorities. A delegation from India — a MOEF and a CBI official — was in China a couple of weeks back to attend a CITES meet. They were also briefed about the findings at an EIA presentation.
7 September, 2005
Despite the red alert sounded by the Ministry of Environment and Forests across the country, the trade in tiger and other big cat skins from India is flourishing alarmingly in Tibet and adjoining areas of China. With increased supplies of tiger, leopard and otter skins, many new shops have sprung up in what is arguably the world’s single largest wildlife blackmarket.These are some of the startling findings of an ongoing survey conducted by the London-based Environmental Investigative Agency (EIA) with the help of the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI).
The survey report will be released later this month but sources confirmed that the situation has only worsened since October 2003 when China’s Anti-Smuggling Bureau intercepted a truck in their ‘‘Tibetan Autonomous Region’’ that was carrying a consignment of 31 tiger, 581 leopard and 778 otter skins from India.
‘‘This has been an extensive survey and we also covered new areas. We will start analysing our data before we finalise the report,’’ EIA’s senior campaigner Debbie Banks told The Indian Express.
Conducted last month, the key findings of the recent survey are:
= Both the open sale and use of fresh tiger, leopard and otter skins is even more widespread than last year.
= All dealers the team talked to said the skins had come from India.
= In Lhasa, many new shops were openly selling tiger and leopard skin chubas — a traditional Tibetan outfit. At one shop, the team found three fresh tiger skins — priced up to Rs 5.4 lakh each — and seven fresh leopard skins for sale. All these skins were said to have been smuggled from India.
= Most Tibetans wearing chubas claimed they had purchased the outfits during the past two seasons.
= Only 10 shops in the main Barkhor circuit stocked 24 tiger skin chubas. Another 20 stocked 54 leopard skin chubas. There are a total of 46 shops in the market.
= A large number of leopard and snow leopard skins were also found on the streets of Linxia.
= The over-all situation is much worse than what was found during the EIA survey last year.
‘‘The survey confirms without doubt that there is large-scale poaching of tigers and leopards in India whose skins are smuggled to Tibet,’’ said WPSI’s Belinda Wrights, also a member of Rajasthan’s State Empowered Committee (SEC) on Forest and Wildlife Management.
Wrights has pointed out some of the preliminary findings in the panel’s report that was presented to Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje this evening in Jaipur. Among other recommendations, the SEC report has emphasized the need to curb cross-border smuggling in wildlife objects.
‘‘We were told that the Tibetan chuba is exempted from the law even if it is adorned with an entire tiger skin. In Linxia, traders claimed that in the Hui Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu Province, there is a special policy that allows them to openly sell skins,’’ wrote WPSI’s Wrights in the SEC report.
The information gathered by the EIA/WPSI team has been passed on to the Chinese authorities. A delegation from India — a MOEF and a CBI official — was in China a couple of weeks back to attend a CITES meet. They were also briefed about the findings at an EIA presentation.
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