BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh Government’s response to several initiatives by the Union Government for tiger conservation has been cold if information from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) is to be believed.
According to information shared with Hindu The by Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh during his last visit here, the notification of the buffer area as required under Section 38V of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, for various reserves is pending with the State, as is the notification of the core/critical tiger habitat of the Sanjay-Dubri Tiger Reserve.
Further, under the same Act, the State was required to prepare a Tiger Conservation Plan. However, the plan has been submitted only for two reserves, and even that does not include any information on the required buffer area.
Another seemingly major violation of requirements of Section 38X of the Act relates to the constitution of reserve-specific Tiger Conservation Foundations (TCF). However, the Madhya Pradesh Government has constituted a single, State-level TCF instead of the required reserve-specific one.
Extinction of tigers Also, there is no representation of eco-development committees and frontline staff of reserves, local MLAs and district panchayats in the constituted governing body.
About the extinction of tigers in Panna, the State is yet to respond to the report of the Special Investigative Team sent by MoEF. Further, though permission has been granted by the MoEF for translocation of four tigers, no headway has been made. The efforts to locate the tigers in Bandhavgarh were called off after just one day. There is no progress in handing over the case of tiger extinction to the CBI. The MoEF had recommended this due to the national ramifications of the extinction of tigers from Panna.
Madhya Pradesh is yet to sign the tripartite tiger conservation memorandum of understanding mooted by the MoEF. The State has opposed the agreement, especially the clause that makes directors of tiger reserves accountable for any lapses. The issue of the MoU figured during Mr. Ramesh’s visit here earlier this month.
The State Government’s lackadaisical approach towards tiger conservation is reflected in under-utilisation of funds released by the MoEF for the purpose. Seventy-two tigers were found dead in India this year, ten of them in Madhya Pradesh alone. At least three died due to poaching.
