GREEN MINUTE NEWS:
The “High-Level Inquiry Committee” on MM Hills tiger killings submitted its preliminary report on Friday. Based on this report, Forest, Ecology & Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre has recommended suspension of the DCF and three officers for apparent negligence and dereliction of duty.
On June 26th, one tigress and four tiger cubs were found dead in Hoogyam range of MM Hills Sanctuary. The Committee Report found that the five tigers had died due to poisoning as the carcass which they had consumed had been sprayed with chemicals.
The Forest Minister, who reviewed the preliminary report of the High-Level Inquiry Committee, made this recommendation to the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms in the wake of unnatural death of five tigers in the MM Hills Sanctuary.
NON-PAYMENT OF SALARIES
The Committee noted that the non-payment of salaries to the frontline forest staff was also a dereliction of duty. Although their payment was released by the end of April to pay the salaries of the outsourced staff, not paying their salaries till June – was a dereliction of duty on the part of MM Hills Wildlife Division DCF Chakrapani. This had caused setbacks in the patrolling work of the Sanctuary which had more than 35 tigers. In this regard, the suspension of DCF Chakrapani was recommended followed by a departmental inquiry.
In fact, the contractual forest staff had protested on June 23 that they had not been paid salaries for three months since March. It was apparent that the frontline staff was evading duty due to non-payment of salaries on time.
TIGER POISONING
The Killing of an 11-year-old tigress and her four cubs aged 10-11 months was due to a chemical compound that had been sprayed on the carcass of a cow. Earlier, the tigress had killed this cow and as an act of revenge, the culprits had poisoned the carcass, according to the preliminary investigation report.
The performance of the patrol staff had been reviewed by the ACF, RFO and DRFO of the concerned sector. Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre added that these officers have completely failed to monitor the situation and have shown negligence in their basic duty of forest protection, and so, therefore, suspended the three staff members and instructed the Forest Department to conduct a departmental inquiry.
The killing of five tigers on a single day had not only sent shock waves in the country but also had made international headlines pointing fingers at improper wildlife management, activists said. The suspension of forest officers is not enough- more needs to be done for tiger conservation and protection in MM Hills Sanctuary since it has not received the tiger reserve status.
The high-level inquiry committee headed by APCCF Kumar Pushkar, which submitted the preliminary investigation report, includes APCCF Srinivasulu, Chamarajanagar CCF Hiralal, AIG Harini Venugopal, the National Tiger Conservation Authority, wildlife expert Dr. Sanjay Gubbi and Assistant Director of Mysore Zoological Gardens Dr. Shashidhar.