JAIPUR: Rajasthan has less than 5% of the country's forest cover but when it comes to environment-related offences, particularly the number of crimes under the Forest Act and the Wildlife Protection Act, it is way ahead of other states.
More than half of the country's total environment-related offences last year were reported in Rajasthan, reveals the data recently released by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Of the 4,901 cases registered under the Forest Act in the country in 2014, 2,666 cases were registered only in Rajasthan. Mining and cattle grazing in protected forest areas are some of the most prevalent offences reported in the state under the Forest Act.
Apart from Maharashtra and Jharkhand, Rajasthan is the only state where cases under Air and Control of Pollution Act were registered. Thirteen cases were registered in Maharashtra, seven in Rajasthan and four in Jharkhand.
A total of 219 cases were registered under the Wildlife Protection Act in Rajasthan of the total 770 cases reported across the country.
Activists believe registration of such a high number of environment-related cases is the result of the %government's pathetic attitude towards environment protection. They allege wildlife has become a tool of making money for hoteliers and other influential people in the tourism lobby.
"The entire focus in Rajasthan is on tigers. They too are becoming a tool for commercialisation of wildlife. Nobody is paying attention to other wildlife offences like poaching of peacocks and deer," said Anil Bishnoi, an activist.
Almost 10 peacocks are being poached every day in the state. Activists say it is alarming that poachers get away easily after killing protected animals.
The NCRB data reveals that the government has failed to put a check on increasing interference of humans in wildlife and growing incidents of poaching.
In May, Udaipur police had busted an inter-state panther poacher-smuggler gang which was accused of killing six panthers in Kumbalgarh forest over the last three years. The gang members included Hisar-resident Satyawan, an aide to deceased poacher-smuggler Sansar Chand who was responsible for wiping out tigers from the Sariska Reserve.
Similarly, reflecting the growing incidents of poaching in the state, poachers had shot three chinkaras (gazelle) and a blackbuck at two different locations in Jodhpur's Kuni and Bilara regions.
