The Hindu Editorial Notes (08th August 2019) Mains Sure Shot
Note- we have already covered different aspects on article 370 (even we have covered History to present aspects ..if we will find it some unique points, sure we will add it …have trust on us )
Today only one article is relevant for us
Note: in today’s article titled ‘The Big picture on tigers’ not much is given but these are the points to be kept in mind.
GS-1 Mains or GS-3 Mains
1.Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh was reported as the best in terms of management practices and M.P. has the highest number of Tigers in India.
2.Even though the tiger population has increased to around 3000 compared to 2,226 in 2014, this increase is largely due to the fact that in 2014, only tigers who were above 1.5 years of age were counted but now even the younger tigers were taken into account.
3.So even though the numbers are positive, they do not reflect the whole story.
4.The infrastructure and planning needed to further development. Due to poor planning and infrastructure many tigers are moving out of their protected habitats to villages and are being poisoned or beaten to death or are being electrocuted or hit by vehicles or trains.
5.For example, just two days after the report on the number of tigers was released, a tigress and her cub were found dead near Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh. Shortly after, another cub was found dead in Umaria in the same State. Earlier in July, there were the poisoning-caused deaths of a tigress and her two cubs in Chandrapur, near the Tadoba Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra.
6.These may seem as stray incidents with no real pattern but the new state policies might lead to increase in such cases. For example, relaxation norms to allow for a widening of highways and railway networks are the new threat, adding to the old ones of retaliatory poisoning and poaching.
7.For instance, the National Highway 7 (NH7), which connects Pench and Kanha tiger reserves, has just been widened. Tigers, as well the animals they prey on, find it hard to cross roads.
8.Apart from highways, railway and irrigation projects are coming up in tiger reserves, and the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project will submerge 100 sq. km of Panna Tiger Reserve.
Way Ahead:
•Growth needs to be thoughtful and in consultation with the forest department and environmentalists.
•Highways and railways should not be expanded to encroach into tiger areas
•Irrigation projects should also avoid the areas.
•Cost-benefit analyses need to take into account the needs of wild animals.
•Also, authorities need not assume that animals would know what needs to be done, for example, Madhya Pradesh forest department, authorities-built underpasses meant for wildlife through NH7. But a tiger was recently seen climbing the barrier to cross the road.
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