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thout protection suuport, no member of the forest staff now dares to go into the field.

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Contact: S.E.H. Kazmi, Divisional Forest Officer, Daltonganj South Division, Project Tiger Circle, Palamau, Daltonganj 822101, Bihar. Belinda Wright, Executive Director, Wildlife Protection Society of India, Thapar House, 124 Janpath, New Delhi 110001, India. Tel: 91-11-6213864; Fax: 3368729; Email: blue@nda.vsnl.net.in (or) wpsi.wildlife@gems.vsnl.net.in.

Source: Appeal issued by S.E.H. Kazmi, and emails from WPSI.

APPEAL

Quraishi and Parahiya were not regular government servants, and have left behind families (including 6 children) now facing a future of economic hardships. Due to lack of funds, the Forest Department had apparently been unable to pay them wages for the past ten months! Hence any financial assistance or compensation from the government is unlikely.The Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) is arranging to have funds sent to the bank account that has been set up to help the families of the deceased.

You are requested to provide financial help to the families of the deceased. Kindly send your contributions, by cheque, demand draft or money order, in the name of Account No. 1021, Palamau Kshetriya Gramin Bank, Hamidganj, Daltonganj. The contributions should be sent to Shri Vishwanth Shah, IFS, Attached Officer, Project Tiger Circle, Palamau, Daltonganj, Bihar, or to WPSI (address above).

ssGUJARAT

Bamboo cutting stopped in Shoolpaneshwar Sanctuary

Readers may recall earlier reportage in JPAM Update No. 9 regarding the rampant cutting of bamboo inside the Shoolpaneshwar Sanctuary by the SPM Paper Mills. SPM had for the last few years received a permit from the Forest Department to do this cutting, apparently only of dead bamboo. Local NGOs had reported that under this pretext, a lot of green bamboo was also being taken away; they alleged that in the year 1994-95 alone, about 0.12 million tonnes of bamboo was cut. At one point, Sanctuary officials had justified the cutting, saying that the resulting openings favoured wild herbivores!

The NGO ARCH-Vahini, which has been actively fighting for the rights of tribals who inhabit the Sanctuary, and who reportedly have a tough time meeting basic needs because of the Sanctuary's restrictive rules, has repeatedly highlighted the bamboo cutting issue. Finally, the Gujarat High Court took notice of the media coverage, and directed a CBI enquiry into the matter. The CBI report, accompanied by revealing video footage, showed that there were a series of irregularities in the way that SPM was doing the cutting, including violations of the Forest Working Plan for the area. Finally, on a writ filed by ARCH-Vahini, the court has directed that all cutting be stopped, and that the state government take firm steps to conserve the resources of the sanctuary. It has also authorised NGOs to monitor the situation, and report any irregularities.

Meanwhile, in an interesting development, the tribal villages situated inside the Sanctuary chose a "people's candidate" to fight the Lok Sabha elections. This was supported by ARCH-Vahini. The fate of the candidate (Manga Vasava) is not known at the time of going to press.

Contact: Rajesh Mishra, ARCH-Vahini, Mangrol, Tal. Rajpipla, Dist. Rajpipla 393150, Gujarat. Sources: 'Soorpaneshwar Abhyaranya: C.P.M. Bahar'. In Lokrah, Rajpipla, 3/2/1998 (in Gujarati); Note on Manga Vasava issued by ARCH-Vahini.

Habitat destruction affects Wild Ass population in Rann of Kutch

The Wild ass (Equus hemionus khur), found only in India, is restricted to the salt desert ecosystem in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat. With drastical deterioration in its habitat, its future is severely threatened. It has found its food base in the vegetated islands of the desert (which are the only dry patches during the area's periodic inundation by salt and freshwater) shrinking, and has to increasingly compete for this food base with huge numbers of livestock. Its major stronghold is the Dhrangadhra Sanctuary, covering virtually the whole of the Little Rann (an area of about 4,850 sq.km.), with an estimated population of about 2,400.

In the last two decades, salt traders and extracters have enveloped and encroached the sanctuary area with salt-pans. Fishermen exploit the area during the monsoon, in violation of the Wild Life Act. Thousands of domestic cattle enter the Rann daily to graze illegally, depriving the local wildlife of fodder and spreading diseases. Nearly 900 sq.km. of the sanctuary is forest land but is being used as a transit route for commercial products, in alleged violation of the Forest Conservation Act. The army occupies 1,000 sq.km. of the sanctuary for a field firing range, again causing wildlife disturbance. A branch of the Narmada canal has been planned on the fringe of the sanctuary, which, according to a Wildlife Institute of India report, could cause further havoc. The sanctuary is short of manpower and equipment to patrol its vast area, according to the Wild Ass Sanctuary superintendent. Fodder bed plantations for the asses and guarding of the areas fringing the sanctuary have been undertaken as a measure to protect the animal. Although no legal action can be taken against the rampant salt-panning, the Revenue Department has stopped issuing new licenses.

Wildlife experts insist that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests set up a fact-finding mission to visit the sanctuary and ensure that the laws are enforced.

Source : Balaram, G. Wild Habitat Deteriorating, Wild Ass of the Rann Find Going Tough. Times of India. 2/2/98.

Gir: villages will not be part of extended area

Revenue villages and agricultural land in Gir forest area will not be included or be a part of the proposed extension to the existing national park, the Deputy Conservator of Forests said in a statement. The people in these villages will hence remain unaffected by the extension.

It may be noted here that following earlier notifications which included one lakh hectares of land of Gir forest in the national park, apprehension was created among dwellers in this area that their villages would also be included in the park, and they had made a representation against it. The clarification was issued to dispel this apprehension.

Contact: Deputy Conservator of Forests (WL), Sasan Gir 363 125, Dist. Junagadh, Gujarat.

Source : Anon. 'Villages Will Not be a Part of the National Park'. Times of India 25/3/98.

JAMMU AND KASHMIR

Militant activities threaten existence of the Kashmir stag

The Hangul or Kashmir stag (Cervus elaphus hanglu) is reported to be slipping towards extinction in its last bastion, the Dachigam National Park. Unofficial estimates point to an alarming decline of this majestic deer over the decade of militancy, from 818 to its lowest-ever population of between 100 to 170 individuals.

Set up as a royal hunting reserve in 1910, and declared a sanctuary in 1951, Dachigam was voted the best National Park in the country in the 1980s. It then turned into a sanctuary for militants and renegades, who shot and injured an estimated 200-250 Hangul.

Dachigam is a prime example of the devastation wrought upon the Valley by the years of turmoil. There are no more than 15-16 functionaries of the Wildlife Department to watch over the 141 sq. km. Park, whose altitudinal range (1700-4000 m) make patrolling doubly difficult. Dachigam is home to 20 mammal species, 150 bird species and 50 species of trees. For fear of the lurking threat of the militants, the park is not guarded/patroled by the wildlife functionaries during the night. Besides poaching of the Hangul and birds like the Monal and the Koklas pheasants, the last few years were an open season for timber felling, extraction of gravel, stones and boulders, and grazing with the connivance of either the wildlife functionaries or the militants. The deforestation accruing from these illegal activities has contributed to the siltation of the Dal Lake and a falling capacity of the woodlands to absorb the pollution from the urban areas. The Park forms half the catchment area of the Lake and provides a substantial part of the freshwater supply of Srinagar, the state capital.