Amid concern over spurt in tiger deaths this year, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave informed lok Sabha on Tuesday that 29 tigers have been poached till November 16 this year, in comparison to 14 last year.
On controversies over Genetically Modified (GM) mustard crops, Dave informed the lok Sabha that the Ministry is examining health concerns looked into by country’s top organisations.
The Government has prepared a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for undertaking plantation and associated activities along Ganga and its major tributaries, informed the Minister to lok Sabha in a reply to another question on Tuesday.
Giving further details on tiger mortalities, Dave said that 32 big cats have died due to natural causes while 37 other cases are under scrutiny to ascertain the cause of the death. Among the legal steps to conserve tigers, Dave said amendment of the Wild life (Protection) Act, 1972 in 2006 was done. While the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is the nodal agency to look into such cases, a multidisciplinary Tiger and Other Endangered Species Crime Control Bureau is also at its job, to check poaching and wildlife trafficking.
He said financial and technical help is provided to States under various centrally-sponsored schemes, including Project Tiger and Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats for enhancing the capacity and
infrastructure for providing effective protection to wild animals.
On the issue of the use of GM Mustard, Dave said Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) and its sub-committees involve representatives of National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Bio-Medical Group of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Ministry of Health and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). NIN an institute of ICMR was engaged in undertaking compositional analysis, allergenicity and toxicity assessment and animal studies of GE Mustard.
In a written response to yet another question, the Environment Minister said that 6197 sites have been identified in the five states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal for raising the plantations by the banks of Ganga. The DPR envisages plantations on sites located within five km on both sides of river Ganga and two km on both sides of its major tributaries, said Dave.