Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday issued notice to the state and the Centre, and also to the National Tiger Conservation Authority, on the death of 36 tigers in Madhya Pradesh within a span of 10 months.
The bench headed by Chief Justice Ravi Malimath has asked the authorities to submit their reply on the matter within four weeks.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by wildlife activist Ajay Dube.
During the hearing, advocate Aditya Sanghi appearing for the petitioner pointed that even tigers having safelight radio collars are being poached or falling prey to deadly traps outside protected areas due to negligence of the forest department.
Through the plea, the petitioner urged the Court to direct the respondents to take steps on poaching of tigers in the state immediately, otherwise “the days are not far away when the state will be free of tigers if the situation remains the same”.
“Tigers are being killed or poached across the state and the there is no coordination between the state and the Centre. There is urgent need of coordination between tigers reserves, state government and the Centre along with experts and other authorities,” Sanghi said.
Two radio collared tigers were killed recently in Panna Tiger Reserve. The reasons for tigers death in the state range from electrocution and poisoning to infighting, conflict with humans and rail accidents, the petitioner told the Court.
“There is a strong nexus of tiger poaching in Madhya Pradesh for years. There is a clear indication of poaching by nexus using different methods. Tigers are being killed by electrocution, or they are given poison to force them for infighting. They are using different method and it could not be possible without involvement of wildlife and forest officials,” the petitioner submitted before the Court.
(IANS)