Wildlife in danger, Highways and railways turn into death traps
26 tigers have died across the country between January 2010 and January 2021 in road and rail accidents. Of them, 12 tigers have lost their lives in road accidents and 14 in rail accidents.
The information recently came to light after wildlife conservationist Giridhar Kulkarni filed a Right to Information (RTI) query.
Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Head of Forest Force BK Singh said that widening of roads and doubling railway tracks in corridors used by animals like tiger, leopard and black buck, which are listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, must be avoided.
“The death of 26 tigers in 10 years – 12 in road accidents and 14 in train accidents – is a cause of worry. The forest departments of Assam, West Bengal and Odisha have brought in some checks over a period of time. Speed limits for trains have been fixed in accident-prone tracks. Forest personnel and the railways have worked in coordination and exchanged information with regards to the movement of elephant herds. If the speed limit is further brought down, then the accidents can be avoided. Why can’t it happen in the case of tigers and leopards? Accident-prone tracks require strong monitoring,” he said.
Notably, earlier this year, Union minister Nitin Gadkari had claimed in the Lok Sabha that there has been “no incident of killing of wild animals in road accidents on national highways during the last three years in the country.”
41% of Kerala’s coastline facing erosion, says Govt
Satellite data from 1990 to 2018 has revealed that 41% of the coastline of Kerala is subject to varying degrees of erosion, the Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
“Some stretches of India’s shoreline are subject to varying degrees of erosion due to natural causes or anthropogenic activities. The National Shoreline Change Assessment Mapping for Indian coast carried out by the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) using 28 years of satellite data from 1990 to 2018 revealed that 41 per cent of coastline of Kerala is subject to varying degree of erosion,” Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala told the Lok Sabha said in reply to a question by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.
Stolen river: NGT orders Jindal Steel to pay Rs 2 crore for ‘destroying’ Odisha nullah
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) November 26, 2021 ordered Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) to pay Rs 2 crore for ‘killing’ a waterbody in Odisha’s Angul district. JSPL, based out of Jindal Nagar in Angul, had interfered with nature by changing the natural course of the Kurdabahali Nullah. The course cannot be restored now, the court said.
Justice B Amit Sthalekar of the Eastern Zone Bench, NGT, said JSPL had to deposit Rs 1.5 crore with the Odisha forest department. It also had to deposit Rs 50 lakh with the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB).
JSPL had entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Odisha January 3, 2005 for setting up of a 6 million tonnes per annum steel plant and 900 megawatt captive power plant at Kerjang in Angul.
The Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) had handed over a major chunk of leasable government as well as acquired private land to JSPL, for the purpose. The NGT November 26 said JSPL had filled up the original Kurdabahali Nullah with earth and constructed its industrial complex over that area.
JSP did this despite not having received sanction from the Odisha government for diversion of the Kurdabahali Nalla through an alternate diversion into the Parang Minor Irrigation Project.
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10 water bodies in Delhi to be declared wetlands
As many as 10 water bodies in the national capital would be declared wetlands by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
The identified water bodies are: Sanjay Lake, Hauz Khas Lake, Bhalswa Lake, Smriti Van (Kondli), Smriti Van (Vasant Kunj), Najafgarh Jheel, Welcome Jheel, Daryapur Kalan, Sultanpur Dabas, Poth Kalan (Sardar Sarovar Lake), says a report by the Delhi Parks and Gardens Society.
According to the report, the water quality of these water bodies will be assessed by land agencies that need to do water testing or sampling of all water bodies every month or at least eight times in a year as per Indicative Guidelines for restoration of water bodies of Central Pollution Control Board(CPCB).
One time assessment of water quality was done from March to May, 2020. As per the report, of the total sampled water bodies, 115 met the water quality criteria of Class D (Propagation of Wildlife and Fisheries).
Man mercilessly beats injured wild Indian Gaur in Nilgiris, video surfaces
In yet another instance of blatant cruelty against animals, a video from Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district shows a man beating what appears to be an injured Indian Gaur (commonly known as Indian Bison). The stick-wielding man repeatedly hits the animal on its head as it was grazing on a patch of grass by the roadside in a locality known as Ketti.
While the animal tries to charge at him in self-defence, it still doesn’t attack him, the video shows. After being beaten repeatedly by the person, the animal struggles to run away from the scene, clearly indicating that it is injured or unwell. At an instant, it is seen limping and losing its step and continues to walk with much struggle. Background voices heard in the video indicate that the attacker was needlessly provoking the animal and beating it.
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Environment India 