Question

report on vanishing forests and wildlife in maharashtra and odisha​

Answer 1

Answer:

Odisha had one of the worst report cards to show as far as wildlife management was concerned even as its government celebrated ‘India Wildlife Week’ along with other states recently.

The nation-wide event is organised by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change every year between October 2 and October 8.

But while India’s wildlife-rich states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand are implementing viable wildlife management plans, the Odisha government is lagging way behind, Biswajit Mohanty, the secretary of Wildlife Society of Odisha, said.

Barring the ‘Wildlife Week’ celebrations each year, when the government pats itself on the back, the Chief Minister and Minister for Forest and Environment never come to the forefront to review wildlife management, said Mohanty.

The Odisha State Board for Wildlife, whose chairman is Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik himself, has had a questionable existence since the last two decades. The Board hardly meets and whenever it does, it is to clear development projects in eco-sensitive zones, added Mohanty.

Though the Odisha forest department has introduced a toll free number at the chief wildlife warden’s office for receiving information about wildlife poaching and smuggling, the Wildlife Crime Cell is inactive and ineffective as it does not have expertise and the required intelligence network to carry out seizures and arrests.

Poachers and traders get bail easily and most of them are set free as the department does not have dedicated legal experts to ensure proper charge sheet and conviction.

The maximum impact is being borne by Odisha’s hapless wildlife.