The situation remains grim for the cubs. Food is being kept for the cubs to eat and water is given through tankers. They are cubs too small to understand what has hit them.

The forest department has examined the vehicles and have released those. Two routes are closed for tourists. So 45 tourist vehicles now crowd in the other routes.

There is no official news confirming the identity of the culprit till date. There are too many inconsistencies in the forest department versions regarding the incident is concerned. Unconfirmed reports mention influential persons are involved and it suggests complicity of the forest department. No arrests have been made. Predictably, the entire handling of the incident shows the Forest Department in extremely poor light.

Let us look at the information released by the Field Director and Forest Department.

1) Initially, the forest department denied that the jhurjhura tigress was killed. The Field director was quoted as saying that a male tiger has been killed.

2) Then the Field Director said that the death is due to fighting with another tiger. It was an egregious blunder from the Field Director, as fighting with another tiger would have left behind deep wounds, unlike the present case where external wounds were not found on the body of the tigress.

3) Then it was said that the tigress died due to possible drowning or poisoning.

4) Then they said that the tigress is not the jhurjhura tigress but its daughter from its previous litter aged 30 months.

5) Finally, they realised that it is the Jhurjhura tigress. Next came the clarifications about age that she is 8 yrs and 10 yrs.

I am sure you would admit that these kind of inconsistencies can be due to two reasons: either due to incompetence or it was an attempt to cover up.

In case, it is true that a MP minister's son is the culprit, then it can explain the flip flop by the Field Director and the forest department. If this is true, then it would be difficult to nail the culprit and the accomplice(s) in the crime.

In case, the flip flop ie. the Field Director and the Forest Department changing their versions several times is due to incompetence, then definitely it is sad because the country's natural heritage is in the wrong hands. Forests serve as the lungs and the streams emanating out of it are our lifeline.

Many a civilisation has perished due to want of water. Do we leave our forests in the hands of incompetent people or people who are accused of their involvement in a heinous crime like killing an endangered species?

Now the million dollar question is who will investigate whom?

There has been demands of CBI inquiry, as it is suspected that there is involvement of a Ministers kin and high officials. It is a known fact that CBI inquiry cannot happen without the State Government asking for it or giving its consent. In few cases, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has given directions. So I am not hopeful about the CBI inquiry.

Our forests are in the concurrent list, however, rarely has the Central Government done anything without the State Governments support. However, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) gets the report of tiger deaths and I am sure the Hon'ble Minister for MoEF Shri Jairam Ramesh would take due interest in this incident.

In a democracy the elected representatives and the officials cannot neglect the opinion of the public. I would also like to mention that last year, the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, based on our petitions had changed the Field Director. Hence, I strongly suggest that people should write letters to him giving details about the incident and asking for justice to be done. Please ask for a speedy and transparent process of investigation to be followed and the culprits along with accomplices in the crime to be punished. Any lapses by the Forest department be investigated and responsibilities fixed.

Kindly address the letter to Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Chief Minister of MP
cm@mp.nic.in
cm@valbh.mp.nic.in

Kindly address similar letters to our Hon'ble Minister of Environment and Forests Shri Jairam Ramesh

Shri Jairam Ramesh
Hon’ble Minister for Environment and Forests
Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road
New Delhi 110 003
email: mosef@nic.in


CC: To Shri Rajesh Gopal
Member Secretary
National Tiger Conservation Authority
Bikaner House, Annexe - V
Shahjahan Road, New Delhi - 110011
Tele Fax: 011-23384428
email: dirpt-r@nic.in


CC: To The Secretary, MoEF,
Government of India,
Ministry of Environment & Forests,
Paryavaran Bhavan,
CGO Complex,
Lodi Road, ND-110003
email: envisect@nic.in

Members may also bring this sad incident to the notice of our Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Manmohan Singh. The addresss is as follows:

Dr Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India
Room No. 148B,
South Block
New Delhi - 110001
Fax: 011-23016857
emails: manmohan@sansad.nic.in
pmosb@pmo.nic.in

You can send emails with a cc to me at sabyasachi.patra@indiawilds.com for further follow ups. If possible letters by post would also be good.

Other Actions:
President of India's grievance cell. :

You will get a reference number and will also be able to see the status of your complaint lodged by you. The link is as follows: http://helpline.rb.nic.in
You will get a Unique Registration Number and can later on track it.

Government of India's Online Grievance Forum:
The link is : http://pgportal.gov.in

Sabyasachi