Wildlife law to be made stringent soon: Jairam Ramesh

Last Updated: Monday, March 08, 2010, 11:55

Tags: Wildlife, laws, Jairam Ramesh

Wildlife law to be made stringent soon: Jairam Ramesh

Tirupati: Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has said that a Bill to amend the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, would make poaching a stringent crime. The Bill is to be tabled soon during the ongoing Parliament session.

On a visit to the Nagarjunasagar Tiger Reserve in Andhra Pradesh, Ramesh lauded the efforts of the park authorities in achieving notable success tiger conservation.

"Ten years ago this tiger reserve (Nagarjunasagar Tiger Reserve) was in a very poor condition but it has turned around. The tiger population is also quite significant but we have a serious problem of grazing there," he said.

"The amendments to the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 are going to be introduced in this session of parliament. We are proposing stringent punishment for anybody who violates Wildlife Protection Act. We want to put the violator of the Wildlife Protection Act at par with the person who violates foreign exchange laws," he added.

Project Tiger, a central government scheme, has been under implementation since 1973. The main objective of the project is to ensure a viable tiger population in India for scientific, economic, aesthetic, cultural and ecological values and to preserve for all time areas of biological importance as a natural heritage for the benefit, education and enjoyment of the people.

Initially, the project started with nine tiger reserves, covering an area of 16,339 square kilometers, with a population of 268 tigers. At present there are 27 tiger reserves covering an area of 37,761 square kilometers with an estimated population of 1,498 tigers.

ANI

First Published: Monday, March 08, 2010, 11:55

Comments

gee - deli
The greatness of india is in part due to its magnificient jungles and range of wildlife and palt life. The very nature of our people allowed nature to flourish and enrich the nation. but with ncreasing population and pressure of the people the importance of forest underwent a decline. Poachers attacked the elephants for ivory and felines for skin and body parts,rhinos for the horns resulting in rapid decline of animal wealth. This is not good for the nation. The law is to be applied strictly and violations punished. Education and invovlement of the local community for animal and forest protection should be increased but at the same time no one should take law it own hands and kill animals. Even today two tiger cubs have been poisoned due to the animal eatin their cattle. these kind of things should be tackled firmly otherwise our animals will become extinct.Recently trains killed straying elephantas. all these happening show that we have to plan and ut strategy to save animals and protect the common man from encounters with wild animals. All in all cooperative approach with llocals and strict protection along with application of Forest laws is the need of the hour so that we live animals and jungles for our futre generations and safety of environment. The effects of change in weather is already being felt the world over and in India also. these sigsn should be taken into account seriously and no tinkering with jungles,greenry and environment permitted.