India will soon have a separate department for controlling crimes relating to wildlife. According to Minister for Environment and Forests A. Raja, the government was thinking of constituting a multi-disciplinary bureau for controlling such crimes on the lines of the Narcotics Control Bureau.

At a meeting with British Minister of State for Environment Elliot Morley, Mr Raja said the legislation for wildlife conservation was also being strengthened to incorporate the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora provisions. Besides this, the Wildlife Crime Cell was being reinforced for developing a dynamic database.

Meanwhile, Mauritius has evinced interest in India’s efforts on controlling vehicular pollution in urban areas and lauded India’s role in raising developing countries’ concerns on environment related issues, particularly on climate change, in various international fora. At a meeting between Minister for Environment and Forests A. Raja and Mauritius Minister of Environment R. Bhagwan, it was observed that the transfer of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries were a major concern.