The opposition Congress in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Monday shouted slogans and staged a walkout over the issue of illegal poaching of tigers and decline in the population of the big cat.
Opposition members had brought posters, with pictures of tigers, along which they wore as a jacket. Below the picture of tigers in the poster, was written ‘Save Me’.
Speaker Ishwardas Rohani expressed displeasure over the behaviour of the Opposition members. He expunged all comments made by Congress members in the meantime.
Raising the matter through call attention notice, Congress Legislature Party (CLP)’s Deputy Leader Choudhary Rakesh Singh and senior members Govind Singh and Ajay said not a single tiger was left in Panna Tiger Reserve and that the Government had failed to curb illegal poaching of wildlife.
Forest Minister Rajendra Shukla said the number of tigers had fallen in Panna despite all efforts. However, he said, the Union Forest Minister had praised the tiger conservation efforts by the State Government. He described Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Pench tiger reserves as better from the viewpoint of management.
In a written reply to a calling attention motion on the issue of the dwindling tiger population in the State moved by Choudhary Rakesh Singh and others of the Congress, the Minister admitted that no tiger was found in the Panna Tiger Reserve during a survey conducted in May this year by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
The Minister also said that the State Government was examining a report submitted by the Special Investigating Team set up by the Centre which said that illegal hunting was one of the reasons for the falling tiger population in Panna.
Shukla said that a committee has been set up to look into the matter and suggest ways and means to ensure that such things do not recur. Its report was expected soon, he added.
He said that the process for re-establishing tigers in the Panna Tiger Reserve had already begun with the translocation of two tigresses and pointed out that permission for translocating four more tigers/tigresses had been sought from the Centre.
The Minister said that the State Government agreed with the concern expressed by members and pointed out that all efforts would be made for protection of tigers and other forest animals.
