Nagarhole National Park Rattled by Ignominious Activities.
The scars of the fire which devastated the Nagarhole National Park
in March 1992, have remained for long. This was a result of a series of standoffs between the forest officials, environmental
groups and the tribals, culminating in the death of a tribal on 13th March and the frenzied mob, ransacking the forest office
and setting fire to several parts of the National Park, on 14th march 1992. The Nagarhole fire is the fallout of a multifaceted
issue, involving forest officials, poachers , tribals and some environmental groups
wrote the Late Mr. S. Bharath Kumar in the Hindu Survey of the Environment
1992.
The standoffs between the tribals, forest officials, poachers and
the environmental groups have become more frequent in recent years, in the Nagarhole National Park. The spate of wild elephant
deaths ( 48 in 16 months according to a report in a popular news paper published from Mysore), poaching of tigers by professional
poachers who are using jaw traps, and the rampant timber smuggling activities, in the National Park have shocked the wildlife
lovers and the lay men alike.
The latest discovery that nearly 100 professional poachers from Katni,
near Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, have camped inside the Nagarhole National Park for months, and have maimed and slaughtered
hundreds of wild animals and birds, has come as a bolt from the blue.
Weeks prior to the discovery of this ignominious activity inside the
Nagarhole National Park, members of INCERT had investigated and reported several incidents of poaching, smuggling of timber
and financial misappropriation of the World Bank funds, in the local, regional and national media.
The following web pages contain the detailed findings of the INCERT
Investigation team.
We request you to kindly
browse these web pages and write letters to the Chief Minister of Karnataka <cmk@bangalore.it.com>, The Environment
Secretary <psecfee@secretariat2.kar.nic.in> PCCF Wildlife, <pccfwl@vsnl.com> and other senior officers at the
Centre and the State, expressing your profound anguish over these disreputable developments in the Nagarhole National Park
and urge them to take remedial measures at once.
Please click on any one of these topics to view more pictures
and information about them