News Analysis India

Tag: National Tiger Conservation Authority

  • Tigress found dead in MP’s Panna reserve

    By PTI

    PANNA: A tigress was found dead in Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, a forest official said.

    Forest personnel spotted the carcass of the feline named P-213 (63), aged around 3 years old, in Amanganj buffer zone around 1 pm, the official said.

    Officials inspected the area and found no evidence of any illegal activity, he said, adding that the big cat seems to have died a natural death.

    The carcass was disposed of as per the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), it was stated.

    Earlier on November 7, a tiger, aged 4 to 5 years old, was found dead in the core area of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) in the state’s Umaria district.

  • Forest officials forged docs, violated laws for illegal construction in Corbett: NTCA committee

    Express News Service

    DEHRADUN: A committee formed by National Tiger Conservation Authority to investigate allegations of illegal construction in Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) in Uttarakhand has found that in order to allow illegal construction and buildings in the protected sanctuary, state forest department officials forged the government records and violated the laws. 

    “The entire ongoing construction activities in one of the highest density tiger habitat of the world without any competent sanctions and by violating the various statutory provisions/court orders is an excellent example of both administrative and managerial failure. Appropriate actions are reqyired against all the forest officers responsible for such grave violations, ” stated the NTCA committee report dated October 22, 2021

    The NTCA committee has also recommended initiating action against state forest officials including vigilance inquiry. 

    U’khand: Forest officials forged documents, violated laws for illegal construction in Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR), says Nantional Tiger Conservation Authority formed committee! @NewIndianXpress @TheMornStandard pic.twitter.com/1BwfSqoUrE
    — Vineet Upadhyay (@VineetTNIE) October 23, 2021
    The committee was formed by the NTCA after Gaurav Kumar Bansal, Supreme Court advocate and wildlife activist, conservationist filed a petition alleging illegal construction and violation of laws. 

    The findings of the committee include alarming points such as illegal construction of the road and bridges is of such nature that it can meet the requirement of single lane highway.

    The report stating that frontline field worker is under tremendous pressure to allow illegal construction said that the illegal construction has been supervised by high level officers like divisional forest officer (DFO) of Kalagarh area. 

    Further adding that the illegal construction in the CTR is going on without any approval and financial sanctions the report states that instead of building cottages inside the CTR the forest officers allowed illegal construction of buildings. 

    Mentioning the construction work on Kandi road, Morghatti raod, Pakhrau forest rest house (FRH) and water body near the Pakhrau FRH the report revealed that no statutory approval/sanctions were obtained. 

    Furthermore adding that large amount of earth material was stacked by damaging the tiger habitat in the CTR all this work is in violation of Forest Conservation Act 1980, Wildlife Protection Act 1972, India Forest Act 1927. 

    The report by the NTCA apart from penal action and vigilance inquiry also recommends demolition of all illegal constructions, eco-restoration with immediate effect along with recovery of the cost from the ‘concerned officials’. 

    The committee has also recommended remote sensing by Forest Survey of India and National Remote Sensing Center to determine the felling of accurate number of trees in the protected sanctuary as allegations state felling of thousands of tree against the claims of hundreds by the state forest officials. 

    On August 12, 2021,  the NTCA issued notice to the chief wildlife warden of the state asking to submit factual status report in the matter after a legal notice was sent by Bansal to the NTCA pertaining the issue. 

    Bansal in his notice dates August 11, 2021 to the member secretary of the NTCA in which he has also attached the pictures alleged that all the material needed for the said construction except cement is being sourced from the Corbett National Park – Uttarakhand itself “resulting into illegal mining of the natural resources and the same is causing irreparable & irreversible loss and damage to the rich biological diversity of the Corbett landscape”. 

    The notice stated illegal construction of bridges, walls in the tiger reserve which shall not only disturb whole ecology of the reserve but is also against the provisions of Wildlife Protection Act and Forest Conservation Act.

    The notice further added, “That said illegal construction of BRIDGES and WALL by way of felling the trees and shrubs within the Corbett Tiger Reserve by Uttarakhand Forest Department is nothing but unsustainable use of Corbett Landscape which is not only capable of damaging the ecology of the Tiger Reserve but shall also cause harm to the pristine biological diversity of the Corbett National Park.”

    The alleged construction of four bridges and ‘high wall’ is within Kalagarh and Pakhro area of the reserve near Kalagarh Forest Rest House.

    On August 23, 2021 the Delhi High Court also directed NTCA to take action in respect of illegal construction of bridges and walls within critical tiger habitat within the CTR as expeditiously as possible and practicable.  

  • NTCA orders suspension of tourism in core habitat of Rajaji Tiger Reserve

    Express News Service

    DEHRADUN: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) on Wednesday directed the chief wildlife warden of Uttarakhand to suspend tourism activity in the core area of Rajaji Tiger Reserve with immediate effect. 

    The NTCA acted upon the legal notice sent by Supreme Court advocate Gaurav Bansal who stated that resuming tourism within the “core area/critical wildlife habitat” of Rajaji Tiger Reserve (ie Satyanarayan to Kansro) and within Motichur to Rajaji Rani via Micro Tower Tourism Zone from 1st October instead of 14th November is nothing but “violation of various provisions of Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. 

    The notice further stated that the unsustainable use of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve landscape will damage the ecology of the Tiger Reserve as well as harm the pristine biological diversity of the park.

    The NTCA said that the warden’s letter is contrary to the provisions of Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and tourism guidelines. The warden had directed the tiger reserve director to open Satyanarayan to Kansro area for the whole year. 

    “Allowing tourism in the critical tiger habitat without following the scientific and objective criteria and without consulting the expert committee is illegal,” Bansal said.

    Last month, the NTCA had sought a factual status report from the Uttarakhand forest department on whether or not to resume tourism in the critical tiger habitat of the reserve. The NTCA had also asked the warden in July for a report regarding the alleged illegal construction of walls and bridges in Corbett Tiger Reserve to which the official has not responded to date. 

    The forest department officials were unavailable for a comment on the matter. 

  • Reserves across India to have their own schedule to conduct tiger census 

    Express News Service

    BENGALURU: Breaking away from its fixed schedules, the tiger census this year will be carried out on different dates across all reserves in the country. The decision was taken in view of the pandemic, paucity of time, and the availability of camera traps. 

    The Ministry of Environment of forests and climate change (MoEFCC), National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), and Wildlife Insitute of India (WII) have declared that the census should be completed by December to release the final report on July 29, 2022. 

    “The trainers and staffers at some places have completed their training and for others, it is underway. By the time the winters set in, the camera trapping has to be completed. The states can draw their calendar as per their convenience, festivities, pandemic and the staff strength,” said Qamar Qureshi, a scientist at WII.

    Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, wildlife, Vijay Kumar Gogi said camera trap is a continuous process. While some reserves and sanctuaries are fully equipped and have sufficient camera traps like Bandipur and Nagarhole tiger reserves, some others have a shortage. So the cameras will be shared on rotation from October 1 to December 31. A calendar for each sanctuary, tiger-prone wildlife area, and reserve is being drawn, he added.

    Also, the NTCA, this time is not particular of the sequence to be followed. They are not particular that line transect is done first and then camera traps. “It can either be done parallelly or altered accordingly. Since more emphasis is being given to technological details and stripe patterns, this time the chronology change will have little impact,” added a senior NTCA official.

    To ensure that the census is unhindered, the department is also thinking of restricting safaris during the durations when the line transect and field surveys are being done.

    A senior official from Karnataka said, due to the shortage of cameras, it is also being discussed if 2-3 circles in each reserve can be clubbed with the sanctuaries or tiger habitats in the vicinity to make the exercise faster and easier. “Since no volunteers will be called for this year, there are no restrictions on timings and walking path distances to be managed. With the help of experts the estimation exercise will be done faster,” the official added.

  • Madhya Pradesh to auction filming right of cheetahs in the wild

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  India is yet to reintroduce cheetah into the wild, but the Madhya Pradesh government already has big plans for it.

    Getting ready for eight of these big cats from South Africa, the state is also thinking of auctioning rights to film the conservation programme of cheetahs it is going to launch.

    If things go according to plans, Madhya Pradesh will receive five male and three female cheetahs from South Africa around November.

    They will be released in the Kuno National Park. The cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952 following excessive killing.

    As of now, the state government has decided that filming rights of this conservation work will be auctioned starting from a base price of Rs 42 lakh. It has given a global call to grant exclusive rights to the highest bidder.

    This comes at a time when concerns have been raised by experts about introducing cheetahs in Kuno. 

    The MP government, working under the supervision of National Tiger Conservation Authority on this project, said the selected agency will be allowed to film the arrival of cheetahs and their soft release into enclosures in Kuno.

    It added that cheetahs can also be filmed when they are actually released in the wild.

    Authorities said the purpose of allowing comprehensive documentation of this landmark programme is to share all information in public domain for education, training, research and awareness.

    Madhya Pradesh will get 5 male and 3 female cheetahs from South Africa.

    These cats will be released in Kuno National Park, most likely around November this year.

    Cheetahs are not found in India anymore. They were officially declared extinct in 1952, after excessive killing.

  • NTCA seeks ‘factual report’ over alleged illegal construction in Corbett

    Express News Service

    DEHRADUN: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has sought factual status report from Uttarakhand state forest department over allegations of illegal tree felling and construction of bridges, roads inside Corbett Tiger Reserve. 

    The NTCA asked the department to submit the report after a legal notice was sent by a lawyer pertaining the issue. 

    Gaurav Kumar Bansal who sent the notice said, “Some forest officers are using state exchequer, public for this illegal construction in the Corbett Tiger Reserve. It is a criminal act. I hope that the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand will take cognizance of this and as such will initiate action in this regard.”

    Bansal in his notice to the member secretary of the NTCA, in which he has also attached the pictures, alleged that all the material needed for the said construction except cement is being sourced from the Corbett National Park “resulting into illegal mining of the natural resources and the same is causing irreparable  and irreversible loss and damage to the rich biological diversity of the  Corbett landscape”. 

    The notice states illegal construction of bridges and walls in the tiger reserve which shall not only disturb whole ecology of the reserve but is also against the provisions of Wildlife Protection Act and Forest Conservation Act.

    The notice dated August 11, 2021 further added, “That said illegal construction of BRIDGES and WALL by way of felling the trees and shrubs within the Corbett Tiger Reserve by Uttarakhand Forest Department is nothing but unsustainable use of Corbett Landscape which is not only capable of damaging the ecology of the Tiger Reserve but shall also cause harm to the pristine biological diversity of the Corbett National Park.”

    The alleged construction of four bridges and ‘high wall’ is within Kalagarh and Pakhro area of the reserve near Kalagarh Forest Rest House.  

  • Further relocations only after translocated tigers settle down in new habitat: NTCA

    Keeping a tab on the movement of tigers from the back of elephants in the absence a radio collar is an effective alternative method.