Govt working to protect Great Indian Bustards in Gujarat, says Bhupender Yadav

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav on Thursday said the Government is working towards the protection of the Great Indian Bustard birds in Gujarat.

Replying to supplementaries in Rajya Sabha, Yadav said the Government is running a programme for conservation of Great Indian Bustards across many states, including Gujarat. He was responding to a question by Congress member Shaktisinh Gohil.

The Congress leader from Gujarat said there is a sanctuary for the Great Indian Bustard at Kutch, Gujarat but only 3 female birds are left there. He also feared that if these three female birds died, then the sanctuary land would be handed over to businessmen.

To this, Yadav said that the fear of the Congress member is “baseless” and assured that the Government is working for the protection of the Great Indian Bustards in Gujarat.

The minister informed that there are four female Great Indian Bustards in Kutch, Gujarat. The population of this bird in Rajasthan is 140. Yadav also informed the House that the Government is not running any “specific project” for the protection of Indian Roller (Palapitta) birds.

The minister was responding to a query from BJP leader K Laxman regarding the declining population of Indian Rollers. In a written reply, Yadav said, “Protection and management of wildlife and their habitat is primarily the responsibility of the State Governments and Union Territory administrations.”

He informed that the population estimation of flagship species such as the tiger, snow leopard, and dolphin is carried out at the national level. Population assessments for other wild animals/birds, etc. These are carried out by the states and union territories, and these are not collated at the level of the ministry.

“Wild animals listed in Schedule I and II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 are protected against hunting. Indian Roller (Coracias benghalensis) is listed in Schedule II of the Act,” he added.

Listing out the steps taken by the government to protect wildlife, including birds, the minister said that a network of protected areas (National parks, sanctuaries, conservation reserve and community reserve) have been created in the country.

Apart, he said financial assistance is provided to states and union territories for management of wildlife and development of its habitat under the centrally sponsored schemes ‘Development of Wildlife Habitats’ and ‘Project Tiger & Elephant’, as per the Annual Plan of Operation (APO) submitted by the respective states and union territories.

Special programmes like ‘Project Tiger’, ‘Project Elephant’, ‘Project Lion’, ‘Project Snow Leopard’, ‘Project Dolphin’, ‘Project Cheetah’, ‘Project Great Indian Bustard’, have been undertaken for their conservation, Yadav said.