Environmentalist Ram Babu Junglee is miffed at the authorities for not honouring the assurance given to him about facilitating concrete measures to ensure the protection of the State bird Monal pheasant.
He states that the population of this colourful bird is dwindling at an alarming rate mainly due to poaching which the forest department has failed to curtail. Undergoing treatment in the Doon Hospital for a respiratory ailment, Junglee has now sought information from the Chamoli district magistrate under the Right To Information Act about the measures taken to ensure the protection of the Monal.
In May 2012, Ram Babu had climbed an overhead water tank in Dehradun demanding measures for Monal conservation. He came down after being assured of necessary action. On the directions of the Dehradun district magistrate the city magistrate wrote a letter to the Chamoli district magistrate and divisional forest officer stating Junglee's request for developing a forest on six hectare land at Chopta in Rudraprayag district for Monal conservation.
The environmentalist had also sought a vehicle with three forest department employees and boarding lodging facilities for undertaking conservation works. Junglee told The Pioneer, "In 2003 there were an estimated 10,000 plus Monals in Uttarakhand but since then the number is reckoned to have dwindled to about 3,000 mainly due to poaching. With 1,500 birds, Chopta is one of the places where they are thriving. I know about these birds and other wildlife due to my field experience and have dedicated my life to conservation. I am eager to work for conservation but the authorities are not enabling me to do so. The assurance given to me last year has not been executed yet," he lamented.
He has now sought information from the Chamoli DM under RTI Act regarding the measures taken for conservation for the State bird and the reasons if these were not taken. The monal lives in upper temperate oak-conifer forests interspersed with open grassy slopes, cliffs and alpine meadows between 2400 and 4500 meters.