SC issues notices to Uttaranchal for poaching

New Delhi, Dec 3: The Supreme Court has issued notices to Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Himalayan Chipko Foundation (HCF), alleging increased poaching of elephants in the forests of Terai region.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal, on December 1 issued notices returnable within four weeks.

Petitioner J P Dabral of H C F pleaded that since formation of the state of Uttaranchal about 125 elephants have been killed as per the records of the forest department and if the poaching continued unchecked then the state would have no elephant left by 2025.

Despite ban on ivory trade in many countries, the illegal trade and poaching in the forests of Terai region was continuing with the help of forest department officials, the petitioner said.

He said even prestigious Jim Corbett National Park was also facing the same problem where seven bulls were killed and their tusks were removed after severing their trunk and cutting their faces, whereas the records of the forest department say the cause of the death of these bulls was not known.

Unchecked felling of trees by forest mafia has also made these tuskers more vulnerable, he added.

Even the Special Task Force set up by the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment has not been able to contain it and the poaching continues unabated, the petitioner said.

UNI