| THE STATE OF THE TIGER | |
|
|
|
|
Fish Mafia - A Fishy Business: The Politics of Collusion
Instead of upholding national legislation and fulfilling a commitment to the Tiger State, Kamal Nath, The Union Minister for Environment and Forests at the time, and the man behind the Tiger State concept, failed to take any action. It is widely believed that the decision to encourage fishing is tied to the election taking place at the time. The situation was further confused when, in 1995, the former chief of all of India's wildlife, Mr S.C.Dey, wrote to the Forest Secretary of Madhya Pradesh, hinting that the State government could exploit loopholes in the Wildlife Protection Act to allow fishing to continue. He suggested that under Section 35(6), fishing was beneficial to the management of the Park in spite of all the problems highlighted previously by members of the Steering Committee of Project Tiger. Mr S.C.Dey later reversed his position and wrote complaining that the issuance of fishing permits in Pench Tiger Reserve was unlawful. Silencing Opponents - Honest Men Transferred As the case was fought in court, the Director, Mr S. Mukharia and Deputy Director, Mr CK Patil of Pench Tiger Reserve continued to oppose the political manoeuvres of their seniors and tried to stop the illegal fishing. On January 11th 1997 they were transferred "without prior approval of the Central government and probably in contravention of the guidelines of the Steering Committee of Project Tiger and in violation of the Election Commission's code of conduct. The transfer of honourable senior staff serves to demoralise others and Kamal Nath himself had stated in 1995 that transfers of good staff, "conveys the wrong signal that poaching Mafia have influence in high places". Yet he did nothing to stop it. Illegal fishing activity escalated following their departure and within two weeks the Maharashtra Forest Department had written to the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department requesting that they take immediate action. EIA was informed that on 27th January 1997, a Range Officer was seriously beaten by fishermen from Totladoh. Having caught fishermen poaching, he and his staff were attacked by a mob of 20-30 people. The Officer was beaten and threatened with fake harassment charges from the village women. He was dumped in the forest with a serious head wound and despite calling for help from the Totladoh wireless camp, his seniors failed to come to his rescue. He finally called the Maharashtra Forest Department who took him to hospital and to the police. Supreme Court Fails to Stop Illegal Fishing In March 1997, the Supreme Court issued it's final judgement - a compromise, allowing the 305 permits to be issued, but under tight restrictions with all additional costs to be met by the Forest Department. Despite this illegal fishing continues unabated. In October 1997, it was reported that as many as 800 individuals were still fishing illegally. A further incident of mob violence against forest guards has been recorded. The fish Mafia continue to use violence and the 305 permit holders as a screen for their illegal activities. Without support from their seniors, field staff are reluctant to take on the fishermen because of the violent repercussions. One Range Officer in Madhya Pradesh stated that only 140 out of the 305 people issued with permits actually fish. It is also reported that many permit holders have been forced to sell their permits to middlemen. A special vigilance squad that is supposed to patrol the reservoir has been formed but does not conduct daily patrols. |
|
| next... | |
|
|
|
 Tigers Home |
|
