By Siddhartha
“Royals of Jaipur Come to the Aid of Royal Bengal Tigers of Ranthambore National Park”.
News update, Sawai Madhopur: Ranthambore National Park is one of the best places to see the Royal Bengal Tigers in action. Despite high security available for protection of these wild cats, a confidential report of Forest Department says that 26 tigers have gone missing from the national park. Since Sawai Madhopur is known as the city of tigers, this has created a huge furore.
BJP MP and member of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Princess Diya Kumari of the royal family of Jaipur has taken up the case and written to Union Forest Minister, Prakash Javadekar. She is asking for the center to launch a high-level inquiry into this issue. Since Prakash Javadekar is also handling environment, forest and climate change portfolios, the report of missing tigers has been submitted to him.
National parks are important for conserving wildlife and protecting endangered animals. However, recent incidents of poaching have raised concerns from several environmentalists and have awoken citizens of the country. Princess Diya Kumari is urging for prompt action on this issue. In her letter, she suggests that strict action must be taken once poachers are identified and caught. This will prove as a deterrent for others indulging in similar activities. Another BJP MLA, Chandrabhan Singh Aakya too had raised this issue in the assembly during Zero Hour.
What are the authorities doing?
The condition of the 116 tigers present in the national park is not good. The whereabouts of some of the well-known tigers including T20 Jhumroo (last seen in May 2019), T88 Kalu and T89 Dholu (last seen in December 2016) are not clearly known to the officials. These tigers (26 in number) have been missing for a decade, between 2012-2018. Even the attitude of Forest Department officials is considered irresponsible with matters of hunting of Chital and tigers being reported. Additionally, many tigers are not under the forest department’s monitoring. Despite so many incidents of mishaps occurring, the attitude of concerned park authorities can best be described as half-hearted. The chief conservator of forests, Sawai Madhopur, Manoj Parasher could not be contacted for comments.
Involving higher authorities might be the right way
Considering that the disappearance of tigers and hunting of Chitals is an important issue, as a member of NTCA, Princess Diya Kumari has urged the government to look into the matter. She has also urged the Gandhi family to get involved in the issue. Since the government in the state is a Congress-led one, asking the Gandhi family to step in to direct the state government to take action might be a pro-active stance. Priyanka Vadra, Congress general secretary, had also paid a visit to the Ranthambore National Park when the poaching incidents were at their peak.
Countering State Forest and Environment minister, Sukhram Bishnoi’s allegation that the majority of the tiger population went missing during BJP tenure; Princess Diya Kumari said that BJP had made efforts to increase the tiger population in Sariska. Instead of playing the blame game, some concrete steps needed to be taken to ensure that the wildlife population is protected. She is also willing to write to the C.M. Ashok Gehlot to urge him to improve the law and order situation near the tiger reserve. Many times, villagers have attacked police as well as forest department officials during arrest operations.
With Inputs: TOI