JAIPUR: The
Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Centre and state government over the relocation of tiger T-91 from Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary to Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR) in an ‘arbitrary manner’.
Acting on a
PIL, the division bench of Chief Justice
Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice G R Moolchandani sought a reply by May 11.
The PIL was filed by one Ajay
Shankar Dubey, a green activist.
The PIL claims the state government grossly violated standard operating procedure (SOP), prescribed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (
NTCA), while capturing tiger T-91 from the Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary (Bundi) and relocating it to a newly developed tiger reserve, MHTR.
It further says that such relocation of T-9 1 to the new tiger reserve has not been done with the pious motive of providing a new habitat to the tiger, but with the sole intention to increase tourism in the state and provide monetary benefit to a ‘selected few’ at the cost of life of an endangered wild animal.
‘Authorities fail to file compliance report’
Counsel for the petitioner, Anurag Kalvatiya, informed TOI, “The NTCA from time to time had written various letters to state authorities asking for the compliance report in respect to the actionable points mentioned in its initial letter dated October 9, 2017. However, no such compliance report was submitted by the state government, and tiger T-91 was shifted to MHTR in an illegal manner.”
It was highlighted that the state authorities have created the MHTR in the form of a zoo with fencing all around the reserve in the name of protecting tigers. “The standard operating procedure of the NTCA does not provide for putting up such a fence and, in fact, deprecates such practices since tigers need open and unrestricted area for their free movement and breeding,” the PIL said.
The petitioner also argued that the NTCA had directed the state to shift the tiger to the northern part of MHTR and in-principle approval was provided on that basis. However, the tiger has been shifted to the south-eastern part which was not even visited by NTCA officials.
