TIRUCHI: A Wildlife Crime Bureau, a Central investigative agency on the lines of the Narcotics Control Bureau, would be set up within the next three months to check poaching of endangered animals in sanctuaries and forests, said the Union Minister for Environment and Forests, A. Raja.

The bureau is being set up based on the recommendations of the Task Force, headed by Sunita Narain, Director, Centre for Science and Environment, constituted by the Centre to examine reports of drastic fall in the number of tigers in sanctuaries, especially the Sariska National Park at Rajasthan.

Adequate powers

An Indian Forest Service officer of the rank of Director General would head the bureau, which would have regional offices across the country.

The agency would be vested with adequate powers to prosecute offenders, Mr. Raja said addressing a press conference here on Saturday. Mr. Raja also stated that the Ministry has proposed to promote 18 Project Tiger Reserves in the country, including one at Anamalais in Tamil Nadu.

More forest cover

The Minister said the Centre had planned to increase the country's forest cover to 25 per cent from the current 23.5 per cent by 2012. The Centre has earmarked Rs.1,200 crores for the National Afforestation Programmes during the X Plan period.

Answering a query, he said the K.A.P. Viswanatham Government Medical College Hospital in Tiruchi would be upgraded as a super speciality hospital on par with the All India Institute Medical Sciences (AIIMS) as announced by him during his previous tenure as the Union Minister of State for Health.

Declining to comment on reports of attempts to shift the project to the Salem Government Hospital, Mr. Raja said the upgradation plans of the Tiruchi hospital were definitely on.