Centre amends Wildlife Act, ‘dilutes’ powers of States
With the Wildlife Protection (Amendment) Act 2022 set to come into force from April 1, several environmental activists are expressing concern over certain amendments to the existing act
Warangal: With the Wildlife Protection (Amendment) Act 2022 set to come into force from April 1, several environmental activists are expressing concern over certain amendments to the existing act.
Speaking to ‘Telangana Today‘, former District Forest Officer (DFO) and Vana Seva Samithi member, K Purushotham, said that the union government had amended Section 6 and taken over certain powers of State governments by establishing a Standing Committee of the State Board of Wildlife. “Setting up of the standing committee will usurp the powers of the State governments,” he said.
He also found fault with the Centre for allowing the use of elephants for religious or any other purposes. “The use of the elephants for religious purposes as a part of our cultural programmes may be acceptable, but the term ‘any other purpose’ makes it vague which can lead to legal complications,” he said.
“The amendment has ignored recommendations of the report of MoEFCC’s Elephant Task Force -2010 which categorically stated that majority of captive elephants were born in the wild but were utilised for entertainment in circus and tourism, alms by wandering mendicants, engaged for private/religious festivals and other purposes in religious trusts/ institutions. Here, ‘any other purpose’ is a blanket permission to trade live elephants contrary to earlier stringent ban on wildlife trade,” he said.
“Section 49 E has been inserted for establishing a ‘Management Authority’ for facilitating the central government, but there is no role of State governments contrary to wildlife, which is in the concurrent list,” he said, expressing concern over reducing the powers of the State government.
The former DFO also said that the new act had not mentioned about addressing the serious issue of human-animal conflict, and there were no specific eco-sensitive zone rules in the newly amended act.
“Reducing the Schedules from 6 to 4, and vermin declaration authority is held by the central government as against suggestions of the State governments,” he said.
Vermins are animals that are threatening to humans, crops, livestock or property. These animals are considered to be harmful and any species declared vermin can be hunted or culled without any restriction. Another environmental activist and Vana Seva Samithi founder Potlapally Veerabhadra Rao also expressed similar views and found fault with the Central government for diluting the powers of the State government.