Concerned over missing tigers, Man calls meeting

The Pioneer , Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Correspondent : Lokpal Sethi
Concerned with the declining number of big cats in various tiger reserves of the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has convened a meeting of senior Central and state wildlife officials at Sariska on May 23 to discuss the issue.

The venue of the meeting, a hotel overlooking the Sariska forest, is of significance as this tiger reserve is in headlines for the past few months, amidst the reports of tiger poaching resulting in disappearing of the big cat.

The Prime Minister is coming on a two-day visit of Rajasthan on Monday. After inaugurating the of the Ajmer- Kishangarh Expressway in the morning, he would go to Sariska for a night stay before returning to Delhi the next day. The Prime Minster decided to use his night stay to convene the meeting.

According to well placed official sources, a proposal for setting up a wildlife crime prevention bureau may be discussed in the meeting. The proposed bureau will comprising of senior police and wildlife official from various states.

Meanwhile, the tiger census in Sariska was started on Monday. After the reports of the expert groups, which had visited the forest few months back, that there are no tigers in Sariska, the Centre had ordered a CBI inquiry about the real situation and also to probe the incidents poaching in the forest.

Some time back Mr Singh had sent a letter to Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje about the alleged decline in number of tigers in Sariska and had impressed upon her to initiate steps to protect the wildlife in the state.

Interestingly, after Rajiv Gandhi, Manmohan Singh is the second Prime Minister, who is paying visit to Sarsika. The former prime minister had held a Cabinet meeting at Sariska in 1985.

 
SOURCE : The Pioneer, Tuesday, May 17, 2005
 


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