Bhopal: MP high court orders probe into tigers death, illegal construction in Bandhavgarh and Pench Tiger Reserves

Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh): The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ordered a probe into the death of tigers and illegal constructions at Bandhavgarh and Pench Tiger Reserves. The order comes on a petition of wildlife activist Ajay Dubey.

In the year 2015, the MP Eco-Tourism Board, without approval of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Central Zoo Authority (CZA), had spent around Rs 7 crore on alleged illegal construction in the buffer area of Pench Tiger Reserve and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve due to which about 7 Tigers had died, the petition had stated,

MP High Court Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Vishal Mishra accepted our petition and ordered the state government to take appropriate action against the accused, said advocate Aditya Sanghi. The High Court ordered criminal/departmental inquiry against the then forest department, additional chief secretary AP Shrivastava and MP Ecotourism Board former CEO, Vinay Burman.

The activist had filed a petition in the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2016 seeking an inquiry into the matter and action against Shrivastava, and Burman.

The wildlife activist mentioned in his petition that he had requested several times in writing to the forest department to stop the illegal constructions and save the tigers, but the forest department did not pay any attention to it.

“About Rs 7 crore were spent on the illegal constructions, and many tigers died which even NTCA had confirmed after investigation. I also wrote to NTCA and CZA and as a result, CZA banned the construction at the two Tiger Safaris,” the activist stated in his petition. The petitioner said that the MP government has assured the MP High Court to take action on the NTCA report.