Wildlife activist in MP demands special tiger protection force

Even after death of 58 tigers in last five years, Madhya Pradesh was yet to form a special tiger protection force (STPF). Bhopal-based wildlife activist Ajay Dubey has said if a step in this direction was not taken soon he will move to court.

Dubey had earlier moved court seeking total ban of visitors in tiger reserves.

According to a data obtained through Right To Information (RTI) by Dubey, 58 tigers have died in the past five years due to poaching, territorial fights and old age in various big cat habitats in Madhya Pradesh.

"They have yet not fixed accountability on any of the officials, have done nothing on creating special tiger force, no periodic review of tiger death case has been done, in fact they have let the big cat die like cats and dogs.

Maharashtra and Karnataka has already created STPF. In his budget speech in 2008, the Union Finance Minister spelt out the action points relating to tiger protection. A one-time grant of Rs 50 crore was provided to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for raising, arming and deploying a Special Tiger Protection Force, the proposal for the said force has been approved by the competent authority for 13 tiger reserves. "When state forest department does not get approval from cabinet and does not forward it to the Union government how will they fund the STPF," Dubey alleged.