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Governments don't have political will to conserve forests, wildlife: M.K. Ranjitsinh (IANS Interview)
IANS  |  New Delhi  Last Updated at January 28, 2019 14:01 IST

He is a die-hard conservationist, a member of the erstwhile royal family of Wankaner, a wildlife expert and a former bureaucrat but most of all he was the principal author of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.

So, when M.K. Ranjitsinh says that the "governments now do not have enough political will" to protect our wildlife, it highlights the threat to India's forests and wildlife.

"In the revision of the 1972 Wildlife Act, no state government was ready to establish a new park or a sanctuary. Being the Forest Secretary for 2.5 years in Madhya Pradesh (1970-73), I established nine new national parks and 14 new sanctuaries. For the existing parks, I doubled their size. A little less than 6,000 sq km of parks and sanctuaries is the only area that is left where nature will survive," Ranjitsinh told IANS in an interview.

He asserted that even 35 years after of his retirement in 1983, just 200 sq ft has been added to national parks and sanctuaries in two states and three little sanctuaries, that too 20 years 
"No political party wants any new national park and sanctuary, as a matter of fact, they want to reduce them," he said.
In 2013, the Supreme Court had ordered the relocation of some of the lions from Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh within six months to save them from extinction. It has been five years and the order is yet to be implemented.
Asiatic lions are now found only in Gujarat, where their population jumped from 411 in 2010 to 523 in 2015. Crammed for space, a number of prides have ventured out of forests and occupied areas as far as in coastal Gujarat. In many areas, they scavenge for food and share space with feral dogs blamed for spreading Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) to African lions that killed nearly half the population in the mid-1990s.
"During my visit to Saurashtra, I noticed that there was only a 3 per cent increase in five protected areas: Gir National Park, Gir Sanctuary, Pania Sanctuary, Mitiyala Sanctuary and Girnar Sanctuary. The government doesn't want to give them (animals) space... they simply don't want to establish a single protected area outside.
"Does conservation of nature, forget wildlife, get you votes? Every other government is interested in votes and the next elections. I am sorry to say it but this is not governance. Is there nothing sacrosanct in this country? If you are not prepared to dig below the Taj Mahal for diamonds or Ajanta-Elora for oil then shouldn't Kaziranga, Kanha and others be sacrosanct as well?... because that is the last place where our natural heritage will survive.
"If everything is to be used for greed and need of everybody, then the Environment ministry might as well shut shop and disband the national wildlife board," he opined.

First Published: Mon, January 28 2019. 13:50 IST

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After Spending 5 Years and Rs 14 Crore, MP Govt Seeks Centre's Help To Get Lions From Gujarat

 Kriti Gupta Updated: Jan 27, 2019, 17:56 PM IST

Gujarat’s Gir forest is the only abode of the Asiatic lions and in October last year, 23 of these magnificent wild cats died due to Canine Distemper Virus (CDV).
Five years ago, the Supreme Court had ordered the shifting of a few lions from Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh, where a second home was to be set so that the specie is saved from extinction, due to catastrophes like epidemics.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The order which was announced on April 15, 2013 was never acted upon and now the Madhya Pradesh government has sought the Centre’s help in getting Asiatic lions from Gir. PTI reported that in a letter to the Ministry of Environment, the state forest department and Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) felt that process of shifting lions could be started immediately.
A copy of the letter was obtained by wildlife activist Ajay Dubey. According to some other documents which were accessed by Dubey through RTI request, the MP government has incurred Rs 14.84 crore in shifting 1,543 families so that lions could smoothly enter the sanctuary.
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Palpur-Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in Sheopur district of Gwalior division was selected by the M.P government as the second home for around 500 Asiatic lions. A thousand families were translocated from 24 villages of the particular area.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Photo: BCCL/Representative
However, since 2013 not a single lion has been shifted. The Gujarat government has been reluctant in shifting lions and reportedly have said that they would wait until the completion of studies as per the relocation guidelines of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), before any lions are sent to Madhya Pradesh.
In September last year, when the initial deaths of Gir lions had started making rounds, a meeting was attended by representatives of Gujarat and MP governments besides a renowned wildlife scientist in which the issue of lion shifting had cropped up.
As per PTI, the scientist had said Palpur-Kuno was ready to accommodate 40 lions from Gujarat.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Photo: Reuters
Lion population in Gir was estimated to be at 523 lions, including 109 male, 201 female, 73 sub-adults and 140 cubs in 2015 census. It is since estimated to have gone up to nearly 600.
With nearly one-third of them living outside the core, which makes them susceptible to viruses relocating at least some of the lion population becomes crucial for the species.
Congress Leader Atul Chouhan had told PTI last year, "The Vijay's Rupani government had admitted (in Gujarat Assembly) that in the last two years 184 lions died in Gir due to infighting, contagious infections, floods and railway accidents, among other reasons.” Despite this no lion was shifted.
CDV can spread from dogs in the wild and had even killed around 1,000 lions in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park in 1990s.

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