Press on Environment and Wildlife

Sand from Vaigai riverbed plundered (February Week 2 (2006)) The Vaigai River Conservation council has urged the State Government to introduce an alternate construction material for sand, reports The Hindu. .
Its executive committee that met here recently said that sand was being plundered from the Vaigai riverbed with the connivance of Revenue and Police departments. The council resolved to impress upon the officials the need to protect natural wealth and to strengthen people's participation in `retrieving' the river.
The council condemned Public Works Department officials for not heeding to the farmers' demand to supply water for irrigation through the Viraganur regulator and instead allowing it to wastefully drain into the sea.
The council demanded that the entire stretch of the riverbed from Anaipatti to Ramanathapuram be cleared of the wild growth as done in the city limit.

Sansar Chand revealed Tibet, Nepal links: CBI (February Week 2 (2006)) On Friday, Rajasthan police arrested a Tibetan, Neema Kampa, from Delhi’s Azad Market, reports The Indian Express. Police say every animal pelt that goes out of India passes through the hands of his gang.
Poacher Sansar Chand, too, had told the Rajasthan Police and the CBI that the skins he sold to international dealers, mostly from Nepal, passed through Tibet.
Chand was arrested by the Delhi Police on June 30, 2005. His interrogation revealed the network and the route of the international wildlife trade.
CBI officials say Chand has listed sales of thousands of skins to at least four Nepalese buyers. ‘‘My Nepalese clients would order on telephone and there was never any problem in supply when they came to Delhi,’’ Chand has confessed.
Chand allegedly said he stored the skins in cloth or leather godowns in the Delhi’s Walled City. They’d be smuggled through the Indo-Nepal border inside false cavities of buses or hidden inside consignments of readymade garments.
One of Chand’s clients, Tashi Tshering alias Chhewang, was arrested in Kathmandu in December.
CBI officials say they are obtaining permission to either question Chhewang in Kathmandu or obtain his interrogation report.
Chand had been questioned over 10 days by CBI. The four Nepalese buyers who figure in his admissions includes:
• Tsering Tamang: Allegedly bought 300 tiger skins, 2,000 leopard skins, 6,000 fox skins and 4,000 cat skins from Chand.
• Tashi Tshering: Arrested. Chand claimed to have sold 20 tiger skins, 60 leopard skins and 100 otter skins to him.
• Pema Limi: One of Chand’s ‘‘biggest clients’’ since early ’90s. Bought 50 tiger skins and 350 otter skins.
• Tenzing Lama: Allegedly bought 100 tiger skins, 70 leopard skins and 100 otter skins.
CBI officials estimate that Chand controlled almost 50 per cent of the trade. From an estimated Rs 5,000 in the ’90s, he was getting Rs 60,000 for a tiger skin prior to his arrest.
According to Chand’s interrogation by the Rajasthan police, the traffic in animal skin is run by Kashmiri and Nepalese traders, for whom Chand has been a supplier since early ’80s.
Jaipur (North) SP Rajeev Sharma said Chand has named several persons. “We have passed on the information to the CBI.”
Chand’s first major clients were several Kashmiris in handicrafts business. He has named a few, including a prominent handicrafts exporter based in New Delhi. Later, the entry of Nepalese buyers edged out the Kashmiris, he had said.

Poisoned wheat bait may have killed Okhla birds: Officials (February Week 2 (2006)) wildlife Department officials today handed over three men — found with poisoned grains on them from the Okhla Sanctuary — to the Uttar Pradesh Police. The officials say the trio could be behind the Saturday incident in which 47 birds were found floating in the Yamuna.
A patrolling group found Ramesh, Radha Shyam, and Rajesh in the sanctuary carrying nets, catapults and a sack of wheat. They admitted that the grains were poisoned.
The three, who work as labourers, belong to the Bawaria community of Rajasthan and have been living in Noida for some time.
Rajesh, 16, told Newsline, “We had come for fishing. It seemed we’d get a good catch. We coated the grains with ‘dawai’, and threw them in the river a few days ago. Today, we had come with out nets.”
Forest officer K.L. Sharma said, “These people took us to their nets today. We saw the sites, and there was wheat outside the water too.”
The grains have been sent to IVRI, Hyderabad for analysis. “The analysis will confirm whether the toxins found inside the birds matches with that found on these men. They have probably sold fish in the market. We need to find whether they were poisoned or not,” said Sharma.
Meanwhile, four more carcasses of birds were recovered today, bringing the death toll to 60.

Rampant killing of sharks along east coast (Issue of the week, February Week 1 (2006)) It's a matter of delicacy. Sharks are being rampantly killed by an organised mafia for their fins in coastal Orissa. The illegal trade is estimated at a whopping Rs 100 crore a year, reports The Times of India.
In 2001 alone, the wildlife department made a seizure of shark fins worth Rs 10 lakh in Puri. Biswajit Mohanty, secretary, Wildlife Society of Orissa, says, "If one goes to any fishing base in Orissa, one will find evidence of killing of sharks.
Earlier, only a handful of fishermen were involved in the trade, but now they've gone upto 2,000. Sharks are being killed almost daily."
The fins are used for shark fin soup, a highly-priced delicacy abroad, which fetches upto $ 100 a bowl. The sharks are exported illegally to Hong Kong, Singapore and China.
The sharks are caught in specially-designed nets and their fins taken out and processed. They are trimmed into shape and dried before being exported.
"The illegal business is becoming a lucrative trade. While a kilogramme of fins is sold for Rs 10,000 by local people, the price goes up more than five times abroad," said Mohanty.
However, not all fishermen can catch the sharks as it requires special skill. The mafia, he says, is luring fishermen to join the trade and of late, coastal Orissa has become a fertile ground for them.
The largescale poaching of sharks, if unabated, will alter the ecosystem of the coastal region.
One of the species which is illegally exported is the three metre-long white spotted guitar fish, weighing about 200 kgs. It's protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Other marine products such as the sea horse are also protected under the Act but sold illegally. "However, shark fin comprises a bulk of the trade," says Mohanty.
S C Mohanty, chief wildlife warden of Orissa, says, "We try to keep a close watch on the illegal marine trade. People from other states are also involved.
A few raids have been conducted, but we can't monitor the entire coastline as the department is facing a severe staff shortage; 60% of the posts are lying vacant."

Diverting Sutlej could spell disaster: environmentalists (February Week 1 (2006)) As Himachal Pradesh plans to tap its huge hydropower potential, environmentalists warn that diverting the fast-flowing Sutlej through tunnels could spell disaster in the event of an earthquake in the fragile Himalayan terrain, reports The Times Of India. .
The Himalayan state is planning 42 large and small projects to tap its hydropower potential of about 11,000 mw, which is more than a third of that of the entire country. If these projects were to be taken up, in about a decade's time the river could end up being diverted underground into various tunnels running over 150 km.
Most tunnels are to be built in the 'run of the river style', whereby the tunnel water is sprayed powerfully on to giant turbines to generate electricity.
While the government is excited about tapping the power potential and the huge revenue that will flow into the hill state's coffers, the greens disagree. They foresee disaster in the event of a major earthquake.
"Kinnaur and Shimla districts fall in the category 5 earthquake zone. If a powerful quake hits the area, the impact could spell flash floods in the region and downstream posing threat to millions," says Birender Singh Malhans, an expert on environment.
"Besides, once the waters of the river are diverted into tunnels, barely 15 per cent will remain in the river bed which could destroy all the marine life in the river," Malhans said.
Most of the new power projects are planned in the Sutlej basin.
The government last month floated global tenders for 14 projects and is to soon invite more bids for the remaining projects, a government official said.
For the last two years, the 1,500-mw Nathpa project is in operation in the Sutlej valley. The Nathpa project has a 27 km long underground hydel tunnel, which carries waters of the Sutlej from Nathpa to Jhakri. Work would soon start on the Shongtong, Rampur and Loori projects for which the Sutlej waters will be diverted through 50 km of tunnels.
"Other projects are to have smaller tunnels. Once all these hydro projects are built in the next decade or so, the river will have passed through 150 km of tunnels to feed these projects," said an official who did not wish to be named.
So far Himachal Pradesh has tapped less than a quarter of its hydro-power potential, more than half of it in the Sutlej basin.
The Sutlej, one of the fastest flowing rivers in the country, originates in the high mountains of Tibet and passes through India before meeting the Indus in Pakistan.

Despite ban, poachers make a killing (February Week 1 (2006)) The Pioneer reported on the flourishing illegal trade of wild birds.
A hornbill for Rs 2,000, a mango bird for Rs 500, grey crane and heron for as low as Rs 100 to Rs 200, depending on their weight.
As the Government tightens its noose under the Wildlife Act 1972, poachers are fast shifting their business, capturing rural markets in Jagatsinghpur district under the garb of medicines, religion and fashion.
From Somanath Hat in Jagatsinghpur to several rural markets across the district, wild bird trade continues to flourish. Nomadic people are stated to be behind this illegal trade for years despite the ban on such activities.
More than 20 species of wild birds are caught and traded with impunity. Thousands of birds are killed for their meat by mostly tribal and downtrodden people, who use it as food and also for black magic, medicinal purposes and religious belief.
It is also considered a status symbol for people to keep an exotic or rare bird as a pet, including parrot, mango bird, sparrow, myna. They are available in the range of Rs 200 to Rs 500 depending on their weight, said Devabrata Swain, a bird lover. Moreover, water fowls and wild birds, pond heron, gray crane, water hen, little cormorant, heron, kingfisher, duck and goose are in the list that attract poachers.
There is no dearth of purchasers for these birds that serve as cheap meat for many people.
Religion, too, plays a significant role in promoting wild bird trade. Hindus believe that releasing birds that are held in captivity can purify the soul and relieve one's sins.
While on auspicious days like Makar Sankranti, days of lunar and solar eclipses and Kartik Purnima, people buy these birds from traders and release them. One Basudev Jena said releasing a captive bird during auspicious days earns positive impact from religious point of view, according to astrology.
Some protected species like owl, kite and parrot are hunted for black magic rituals and sorcery. Wild birds in large numbers are also brought for medicinal purposes. Ayurvedic physician Bibhuti Bhusan Dash said birds like hornbill, adjutant and water hen are in focus for preparing Ayurvedic medicines for several human ailments.
Many of the rare species are also exported out of the district.
A number of tribal people and nomadic tribes living in rural areas are in this illegal trade in Jagatsinghpur. They use nets or special type of sticks or intoxicants to capture the birds.
A nomadic bird poacher living in Nuapola village said his family has been involved in this trade since generations. As illegal bird trades flourish, police said no complaint has been registered as yet. Chandramani Behera, range officer, Kujanga, promised to take stern action against the wild bird poachers if any complaint is lodged.