Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka, given away for peanuts
Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (Kanakapura Wildlife Division) is a key elephant habitat covered under India's Project Elephant program....The river cauvery runs through this park... A 6Km stretch of this river bank has been given to a private party on an "exclusive" basis to set up camps/cottages to conduct commercial tourism activities and also conduct angling sports of catching fish on the river. This permission has been granted from Sep 2007 to Sep 2017 for a period of 10 years!!!!**** As per wildlife protection act, no animal inside a protected area can be teased or molested or disturbed. It amounts to hunting as per act Section 2. It defines fish as wildlife.**** Also as per the Act, no commercial tourist camp can be set up inside a park without the permission of National Board of Wildlife and also without the permission of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India.*** Elephants and other large mammals hesitate to approach the river to drink water due to the constant presence of cottages and camps on the bank. The animals are shoo'd away in order to protect the guests who are generally British anglers who come all the way to India to spend weeks inside the Sanctuary. All these acts are EXPLICITLY prohibited under Indian Wildlife Protection Act (Under Section 2 and under Sections 29 to 33).The exclusive permission for a fee of Rs 50,000 per annum has been given by the Chief Wildlife Warden stating that he has powers under section 28 of the Act. But what he has comfortably hidden is that under section 29, he cannot give that permission.The permission is also against various orders of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India.* Who will save the Sanctuary?? Can our elephants live peacefully inside the park and not worry about drinking water in their own rightful habitat?? Wont others apply (and obtain) "exlusive" permissions to set up similar camps inside bandipur and nagarhole to entertain guests??
Details of permission given to private resort operator
Permission has been given to M/s Bush Betta Wildlife Adventure Resort (proprietor Mr Nawabzada Saad Bin Jung - as found in the PCCF's order) for Angling sports facility at Mekedatu upto Tamilnadu border - 6 Kms stretch inside the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, Kanakapura Wildlife Division.
Order Ref: B/WL/CR-39/2005-06 dated 27-02-2007 issued by the PCCF and Chief Wildlife Warden of Karnataka Forest Department.
(I have all relevant documents obtained under RTI)
Permission for 10 years from Sep 2007 to Sep 2017.
Annual fee Rs 50,000/- for EXCLUSIVE fishing, angling and Camping inside the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (all clauses violate Wildlife Protection Act and Violates Hon'ble Supreme Court's orders)
Order recognises that the operator has invested HUGE amount of money on Infrastructure!!!!! (Inside a Protected Area??!!!!!)
The above permission cannot be issued as per WPA and also as per Supreme Court's orders. As per the act, catching and angling of fish inside a protected area is considered as HUNTING. Also a resort/camp cannot be set up inside a park without the permission of National Board of Wildlife and Hon'ble Supreme Court.
How do we save the park?
1 Attachment(s)
Update on Cauvery WS. Shocking reply from Chief Wildlife Warden.
Friends.
I was very disturbed by this "giving away" of Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary as written by me earlier in this forum.
In April 2009, I served a legal notice to the Karnataka Forest department, Karnataka Government and to Centre (MoEF), under section 55 of the Wildlife Protection Act, through an Advocate practising in the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India.
The Chief Wildlife Warden of Karnataka has replied to me now (others haven't replied yet).
I have enclosed a scanned copy of the reply (2 pags). Please read both the pages. It is very shocking to see the views of a Chief Wildife Warden especially for activities that has been permitted in a critical elephant habitat (Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary):
- in Para 3, he has said no fire is being kindled. But the bush betta resort (they call it an angling camp) lights bon-fire every night
- in para 3, he has said no construction of commercial lodge has been allowed inside the sanctuary. He is bluffing blatantly.
(Please see these web links. What is this then? A charity camp??!!)
http://www.fishmahseer.com/fishing.php
http://www.fishmahseer.com/camp.php
The Chief Wildlife Warden believes that this Fishing camp with accommodation etc is NOT a commercial tourism lodge !!! Please see the above websites for pictures of the actual accommodation. Can we allow such "camps" in Nagarhole and Bandipur??
In Para 7 he says no permission has been given to expolit or disturb wildlife. What is angling then? Is it not disturbing and is it not exploitation? What conservation purpose does it serve? Please see the above website that clearly shows that the aquatic fish are being angled, baited, trapped and injured. We do not know if they are alive when they are released back in the river. They may die much later after the release due to the nature of injuries.
Para 8 is the Killer. The chief wildlife warden says that "Manual angling of fish, catching and releasing DOES NOT amount to Fishing" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He further goes on to say that it creates "Intimacy and Awareness"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, can people go inside the park and catch animals and release them to build intimacy and awareness?? How about catching deer, birds, etc for intimacy? How can any such thing be allowed inside a protected area?
If you read the two pages, you will notice that the Chief Wildlife Warden is in full support of a tourism lodge that has been built (doesn't matter if it is temporary or permanent) inside a Protected area (against the Wildlife Protection Act). He has also taken lots of pain to defend "exploitation of wildlife inside the park which serves no purpose or no good for wildlife conservation"
It is only a question of time before we have such camps coming inside other National Parks and Sanctuaries in Karnataka.
I have now approached the CEC in New Delhi and filed a complaint.
MoEF clarifies again. Angling not to be allowed.
This article appeared on yesterday's Deccan Herald Newspaper.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...ing-camps.html
MoEF’s reiteration of ban may lead to their closure
Centre to reel in fishing camps
Subhash Chandra N S, Bangalore, DHNS:
For the fishing camps of State owned Jungle lodges and resorts (JLR), as well as a few private fishing camps, the end of the road is near as the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has confirmed the ban on angling of Mahsheer fish in the State’s protected areas.
In July 2010, the State Government directed the JLR to suspend its activities at the fishing camps until the MOEF clarified its stance regarding the ban on angling. It also made a submission in the High Court, stating that it had written to MOEF seeking clarification. It also submitted that the department had directed the State-owned Jungle Lodges and Resorts to suspend angling in all stretches of river Cauvery and in areas allocated to them.The State owns three of the four fishing camps in Cauvery wildlife Sanctuary Doddamakali, Bheemeshwari and Galibore.
In response to the letter dated August 3, 2010 in connection with an appeal before the High Court challenging the withdrawal of permission to a fishing camp in sanctuary, Prakriti Srivastava, Deputy Inspector General (wildlife), MOEf, has replied, reiterating her Ministry’s ban on angling of Masheer.
“The earlier stand of the Ministry is reiterated. As per Section 2 (16) (b), Section 29 and Section 33 of Wildlife Protection Act 1972, Angling of Mahsheer inside the protected area is illegal and cannot be allowed,” Srivastava said in a letter dated October 11, 2010, available with Deccan Herald.
The earlier letter of MOEF dated June 7, 2010 says that angling and its release into the water immediately amounted to hunting. “Capturing, coursing, snaring, trapping, driving or baiting any wildlife or captive animal amounts to hunting and presuming capture of mahseer amounts to sport is wrong. Even hunting was a sport earlier and has been banned now.”
Following its petition in the High Court, a meeting convened by the State Government on July 19, 2010, resolved to write write to the Union Ministry seeking clarification regarding the ban. Chaired by Meera C Saxena, Additional Chief Secretary, Forests Ecology and Environment Department, it was attended by K Jyothiramlingam, Principal Secretary, Tourism, B K Singh, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Wildlife warden, N D Tiwari, Additional PCCF, Jungle Lodges and resorts, Sanjay Mohan, CCF and Executive Director, JLR and Nagraj Hampole, CCF and Secretary Forests.
The petitioners Bush Betta fishing camp (BBFC) had moved the High Court challenging the Supreme Court’s Central Empowered Committee.
On a petition by a City based wildlife enthusiast, Tiger G Ramesh in February 2010, the CEC had directed the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden to reconsider permission for a fishing camp in the sanctuary.
Anglers have Cat Fish for Lunch ?!
Hi. This is my 100th Post on IndiaWilds :)
I have attached a link I found on the net. Please read the article in full. You will find that one of the anglers is quoted saying that the cat fish he caught (inside a protected area) went to the camp for dinner. The article further talks about lunch menu which also contains cat fish. To talk about responsible conservation efforts !!!! The Indian wildlife Act very clearly says that no wildlife can be exploited in any form inside a protected area.
http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/V...tml&hl=cauvery
Article appeared on Civil Society Magazine
Here is an update on this matter. The Civil Society Magazine has carried a cover story on this subject called the "Mahseer Muddle".
Incidentally the next hearing on this matter has been posted for 16th December by CEC (Supreme Court's Committee) in New Delhi.
http://civilsocietyonline.com/dec10/dec101.asp