RAIPUR: Contradicting Chhattisgarh forest department's claim on death of five animals at Barnawapara wildlife sanctuary, the vet surgeon who conducted postmortem of the animals from the spot of incident made a shocking revelation in stead of five there were 13 animals including nine spotted deer and four monkeys which died of poisoning. The vet said that there were 13 animals lying dead near the pond when he reached the spot at Bhaloopani pond at compartment number 111 in the sanctuary, post mortem was conducted and animals were cremated on the spot only.
Vet's revelation has sparked off a controversy on the corridors of forest department following which a three-member investigative committee would be constituted
Talking to TOI, Dr Mahendra Singh Patle said that he too was told about death of five animals but when I reached the spot more bodies were lying scattered near the pond that was poisoned with urea. "We have taken samples of internal organs of the animals to find the actual reason of death and also have written to senior officials about death of 13 animals in stead of five."
When contacted additional principal chief conservator of forests KC Berbata told TOI that he too got a report submitted by forest superintendent about death of five animals and he wasn't aware about the Vet's claim.
"However, I will inquire from the field about the latest assessment report. The case indicates towards chances of poaching as poisoning of water in forest is mostly intended to kill animals for trade," Berbata said.
Forest superintendent RB Nihlani said that an inquiry team would be constituted by Friday and investigate about doctor's claim.Smelling something fishy wildlife activists alleged that the forest department was trying to suppress truth about the death of sanctuary animals. The incident came to light only after a group of wildlife photographers who had visited the spot and informed the officials that a herd of spotted deer were seen lying on the ground near the pond.
Sonu Arora, a wildlife enthusiast who went to the spot raised serious concerns that there might be more animals dead which were probably taken away by the poachers.
"The spot of cremation shows hat not more than 4-5 animals were cremated there, so where are the other animals, why is the actual number of deaths is being covered up while the incident took place just two kilometers from forest ranger's office. There might be many such incidents taking place inside forests which are rarely reported. It was due to the wildlife photographers' team who alerted the media as well as officials else, department would have hushed up the matter," Arora said.
He added that Chhattisgarh has always been very insensitive towards animals wherein neighbouring Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have always taken initiatives to conserve their wildlife and have witnessed remarkable increase in number of tigers and other wild animals.
