Wild at heart
Regarding the article 'Tusker in trouble' on elephant poaching in Simlipal
National Park (Down To Earth, Vol 5,
No 18), the state of Orissa, in recent
years, has become a haven for elephant
poachers, who go about their job ruthlessly, knowing that there will be little
departmental action against them. On
an average, about 50 tuskers are killed
every year. At this rate, it will not take
long for elephants to disappear
completely from the forests of Orissa.
We at the Wildlife Society of Orissa,
have been raising our voice on this
issue for the last one year but, despite
several meetings with the chief wildlife
warden, nothing has been done to
check elephant poaching. We are
outraged by the total lack of concern
shown by the senior officials of the
forest department.
We have mounted a campaign to
save the elephants of Orissa and
welcome those interested in saving
them to join us.
...
Cry waff
This is with reference to the cover story
'More of everything?'(Down To Earth,
Vol 5, No 18). Of late, it has become a
fashionable practice for people to make
doomsday predictions for the future of
the earth without in any way bothering
to offer solutions for any of the environmental problems being faced by
humankind. No doubt the fourth
estate's options are limited in this context, yet I strongly feel that its role is rather underplayed when it comes to
realistic action. Merely talking about
these issues will not help the situation.
It is high time that the press in India
and other developing countries became
more action oriented in dealing with
these issues.
...
All for one
The collector of Bastar, Rajgopal
Naidu, has been in the news lately for
his stance against timber cutting in the
area. The Malik Makbuja trees
scandal has received wide coverage in
the media. The value of the timber
cut is Rs 4 crore and the sale deeds
show that the tribals sold their
land for more than Rs 26 lakh.
These deeds are evidently fictitious.
Had it been otherwise, all this
money would have been reflected
in the improved lifestyle of the
tribals. The trouble with Bastar is that
the land records are bill of anomalies.
There is no clear demarcation between
state-owned forest areas and the land
belonging to the tribals. This leaves a
lot of scope for corrupt forest and
revenue officers to take advantage of
the situation.
The whole of Bastar is a case study
in forest depletion and land clegradation. It is the duty of the civil society
to support people like Rajgopal Naidu
who are working in the interest of the
tribals.
...
Can I have it
Apropos the article 'Enter green giant'
(Down To Earth, Vol 5, No 15), please
give me the address of GreenpeaceIndia, the international environmental
NGO.
...
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