Kaziranga National Park (KNP) (September Week 4 (2005))
The Sentinel reported a three prong strategy to save Kaziranga National Park (KNP). KNP Director NK Vasu said that the Park authorities held a meeting in the first week of this month to moot the formation of a coordination committee to ensure formulation
of the three-pronged strategy to end the element of uncertainty threatening the centenary park.
It may be mentioned here that the Brahmaputra has been eroding vast stretches of the KNP every year. The devastating floods of 1987 and 1997 claimed large tracts of park land. Therefore, erosion control has gained paramount importance for the survival of the
Park, Vasu said.
With erosion on the northern side, the need has arisen for the extension of the Park towards the south. The KNP Director said that there is a plan to add a 98 square-kilometre area to the Park in the Karbi Anglong Hills. This has become essential as the population
of the animals, including that of rhinos, elephants, Asiatic buffaloes and deer, has increased over the years, he added.
In addition to this, the National Highway has to be monitored all along so that the animals do not get run over by speeding vehicles while crossing the road, the KNP Director said.
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Pheasant breeding project suffers setback (September Week 4 (2005))
The prestigious project for breeding of the highly endangered western tragopan species suffered a further setback when another chick died at the Sarhan pheasantry on Friday, reported The Tribune.
With this three of the four chicks bred for the first time at the pheasantry have died. All chicks were born to the same pair in two clutches.
While Mr B.L. Negi, the Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife), Sarhan, refused to confirm or deny the death of the chick, sources in the department said that the chick, which sustained an injury on one of its legs last month, had died.
Over the past two months four birds have died. Besides three chicks, an adult pheasant also expired but it had completed the average life span.
It is a project of global importance as Sarahan pheasantry is the only one of its kind in the world having the rare birds in captivity. “Tragopan melanocephalus” for the zoologists, the rare pheasant is placed high on the Red Data Book of the International
Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) listing the highly endangered species. The survival of the species depends on success of the breeding programme being pursued by the department since 1991.
It took 15 years to have a successful breeding, thanks to the guidance of Mr John Corder, conservation breeding expert from the World Pheasants Association, who had been making regular visits to monitor the programme.
However, it appears that the department lacks the requisite expertise in captive rearing which is as much a specialised as breeding. The success of the Rs 4.93 crore breeding project is very much in doubt now.
Besides the lone surviving chick, the pheasantry still has three pairs of the rare bird but the breeding programme is in doldrums. The department will have to have fresh look at the programme and ensure that trained staff was deployed for such projects. Failure
of the project could deprive the state of similar projects which are in the pipeline.
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Three deaths in three days at Gir sanctuary (September Week 4 (2005))
Marauding poachers have killed off most Indian tigers and now lions in Asia’s only preserve for the king of the jungle are mysteriously keeling over the dying.
Two lions and a lioness are reported to have died since Saturday in different parts of the Gir sanctuary and its surrounding areas, reports Times of India.
A lioness died during treatment on Sunday. Junagarh conservator of forests Bharat Pathak said the postmortem revealed that the death was caused by “toxic effect”. The department was waiting for a detailed analysis from the Forensic Science Laboratory before
committing on the issue, he added.
A 14-year-old lion was found dead in Jamwada area of Akolwadi rrange. Confirming this, deputy conservator of forest (Junagadh west) Ram Kumar said the lion had completed its life span. “This lion had undergone treatment four times in the past one year. It was
last treated on June 15 and then released into the jungle.”
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Study of Rivers Long Overdue (September Week 4 (2005))
In M.P, the nine rivers and 11 cities situated on their banks have been included under the environment improvement programme under the 10th Five-year Plan. For this the Union Ministry of Environment & Forests has chalked out River Conservation Scheme.
The Environmental Planning and Coordination Organisation (EPCO) has been assigned the responsibility of preparing the detailed report of the scheme. The state government has made a provision of Rs 3 crore for this purpose. Central Chronicle reported this development.
The Tribune reported a proposed study of the catchment area of Sutlej.
Concerned at recurring breakdown of the country’s largest hydroelectric venture, the 1500-MW Nathpa Jhakri project, due to excessive silt in Sutlej, the Union Ministry of Environment has decided on a comprehensive study to map environmental status of its catchment.
The objective of the study is to prepare an environmental status report of the Sutlej catchment and to identify related issues ,besides suggesting measures to resolve the problems. The ministry has sanctioned Rs 27 lakh for the study to be conducted by the
state’s Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board in collaboration with the Central Pollution Control Board.
It is the first study of its kind to be taken up by the Union Ministry, which plans to replicate it in other catchments as environmental degradation has affected most of the important rivers.
Total catchment area of the river upstream the Nathpa dam from where the water of the river is diverted for the project is 49,820 sq km of which 36,900 falls in Tibet and the remaining 12,920 sq km in Himachal Pradesh. The extent to which the river has been
affected due to the ongoing environmental degradation could be judged from the ever-increasing level of silt. The Nathpa Jhakri project was designed for a maximum silt level of 5,000 ppm (parts per million) on the basis of data as per which the silt content
was likely to exceed this limit only for four days in a year. However, in the very first monsoon after the project was commissioned the silt content has surpassed the permissible limit on 53 days from June 24 to August 31.
The study will help generate authentic environment related data which will help engineers in planning future projects on the river. The composite view of environmental status mapping and conservation priorities of the catchment will also be useful to environmental
regulators to have a neutral opinion in decision making while granting clearances to development projects.
The user agencies such as agriculture, forest, wildlife, Hydropower, Industry and Tourism departments of the state will be taken into confidence while conducting the study which will also enable the government to evolve the strategies for conservation of catchment
and sustainable development.
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Ex-DSP's wife caught with wildlife trophy (September Week 4 (2005))
The following report was published in the Times of India.
If you are an NRI and possess old animal trophies decorating your plush homes in India, make sure you have secured their certificates from the state wildlife warden. Or you are in trouble, as was on Saturday the wife of a former Punjab DSP.
The Canada-based NRI Harpreet Kaur (name changed) was taken for a surprise by the customs at the Indira Gandhi International airport when her proud possession of a sambar head with its exquisite antlers, which she was carrying to Canada, was seized in a gruesome
persecution, as she checked in the airport reportedly to take a flight to Vancouver.
The customs officials immediately filed a case against her under Section 53 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and got the trophy examined by the northern Indian office of Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The CITES officials
confirmed that the article was "a sambar head-mount with antlers" and said it was about 25 years old and that the WPA was in place at that time.
On Monday, a customs deputy commissioner fined Harpreet Kaur Rs 10,000 as penalty but also issued the required certificate while letting her go.
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Global warming will affect agriculture, biodiversity: Experts (Issue of the week, September Week 3 (2005))
The Pioneer reported on a climate model developed jointly by Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and UK's Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research.
The study predicts global warming will adversely affect agriculture, biodiversity, disease pattern and water availability in India.
Simulated climate change models predict increase in rainfall and temperature over India in the next few decades. While warming will be more pronounced in northern India, more rains will occur in central India.
predicted that temperature increase by as much as three to four degrees in parts of northern India and increase in rainfall by 10 per cent to 30 per cent will affect rain- based agriculture. The study said there would be a general increase in surface water
availability over all three basins - Ganga, Krishna, and Godavari
Plant and animal species will have to adapt to changing climate or move to habitats that are more conducive. The report noted that forest biomes are highly vulnerable to projected change in climate in a relatively short span of about 50 years. Animal species
dependent on the forests will also be affected due to the changes.
"About 70 per cent of the vegetation in India is likely to find itself less optimally adapted to its existing location, making it more vulnerable to the adverse climatic conditions as well as to the biotic stresses. Biodiversity is likely to be adversely impacted
due to this," the report noted.
Global warming and melting of the polar caps of the Arctic and Antarctic will cause sea levels to rise. The study predicted a 5 cm rise in 50 years, more frequent high surges and increasing occurrence of cyclones post-monsoon.
Warmer temperature and humidity will mean more opportunity for mosquitoes to proliferate, if vector control programme slacks. The climate is favourable for "transmission window" for malaria to stay open for longer duration. Malaria will also spread to non-endemic
areas.
The climate change study was released by Environment Minister A Raja and UK Trade Minister Ian Pearson. The information will help India and neighbouring countries plan for future and account for climate change.
* Wheat & rice crop may not withstand increase in temperature
* Droughts could last longer, floods more frequent
* More cases of malaria, could spread to other non-endemic regions
* Coastal infrastructure will battle rise in sea level
* Species unable to adapt to climate change will dwindle
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