Wiping Out The Wildlife?

For as long as village elders can remember, Asaniye village has had a temple dedicated to India's national animal - the tiger. In fact, so strong is their belief in its powers that villagers don't even claim compensation from the forest department when the tiger kills cattle here. 

Not just that. Tiger presence is well documented even in the forest departments records. The forest department's records show the presence of at least 5 tigers and 40 leopards here. Yet, what's surprising is that environment impact assessment reports (EIA) prepared by expert consultants for obtaining mining permissions here, have no records of any tigers or leopards- both highly endangered species.  

The forest cover in Sindhudurg is a crucial wildlife corridor that connects the Anshi-Dandeli tiger reserve in the south with the Sahyadri tiger project in the north, spread over approximately 10-15 km that could be completely destroyed since all of it comes under the proposed mines.

The western ghats is a catchment area for most of the rivers in south India, large parts of the Western Ghats are also world heritage sites with endemic species found only here. Vast areas are yet to be explored and many species yet to be discovered. It would be a pity to lose them even before they are found.

There are 32 mining leases in the Sawantwadi- Dodamarg belt alone and as many as 105 leases in the Sindhudurg district currently under consideration but their environment impact assessment reports are largely silent on significant wildlife species. For example, the rapid environment impact assessment report for mining iron ore in Dongarpal shows presence of rats, mongoose and jungle cat but has no mention of highly endangered species like the leopard and tiger.  Even in a village like Asaniye, that has a temple dedicated to the tiger, the report for mining here is silent on the tiger.

B R Kolte, President of the Mining Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti told NDTV, "The previous EIA had said there is no resident population here and hence no question of rehabilitation. When we pointed this out to them, theychanged it. The EIA also said that there are no water sources here and after our protest changed that. So in a span of two months they completely contradicted their own findings. They should have spent some time on studying the area. How can they give false EIAs and go unpunished for it?"

The people of Asaniye are worried. Though there were strong protests at the public hearing, residents are not sure their voice will reach the government. 

"We never know if our papers and our say has reached the authorities", says Kolte. "We have seen in Goa that in place of mountains and greenery, now there are heaps of waste stocked up from the mines. There isn't any green patch left where something as tiny as a bird can perch. Mountains have been reduced to dust and mud. It has been denuded completely. There used to be forests there just like the ones here. People from Goa tell us that." Read the full report here.

Source: Ketki Angre, NDTV Social.