In 2019, the illegal wildlife trade reached staggering levels. Pangolin scales and ivory were being trafficked in massive quantities from Africa to Asia, exposing a network of crime syndicates operating at an industrial scale. The sheer volume of these shipments marked a disturbing milestone, one that revealed the global reach …
Chilka lake in Orissa has become a poacher's delight. The railway station in the sleepy town of Bhusandpur, the gateway to the lake, has become a thriving market for birds caught in and around the lake. Rafi, one of the traders who has been in business for several years, says, …
three jackals' heads were seized at the Anna International Airport in Chennai by the police. They were about to be smuggled to Malaysia in a small bag, the top of which was covered with ornamental beads. The heads were handed over to the wildlife officials. According to the police, the …
SILENCE OF THE SCAMS Corruption is increasingly tightening its grip over the daily lives of Indian citizens. Experts describe it as a form of 'tidal corruption'. It has, therefore, become vital to shift attention from the corrupt to the system which breeds corruption The silence is deafening. The corrupt observe …
A lot of trees are planted on paper and forests are created on government files. Between 1980-81 and 1988-89, the government claimed that some 24 billion trees had been planted under afforestation programmes on private and public lands at an expense of over Rs 3,000 crore. In other words, taking …
The sandalwood policy of the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments have created just the right environment for corruption to thrive. It involves major kickbacks for all those involved, it leads to scarcity of the raw material and promotes black market trade. The powerful and the corrupt corner the bulk of …
State regulations are extremely important to protect various elements of the ecosphere like air and water against pollution, and from over exploitation. But corruption, lack of public awareness of the importance of natural resources for daily survival, and policies that exclude the participation of the people can render the laws …
Why did the chicken cross the road? Simple. It wanted to bypass the forest official. Otherwise charcoal would never reach the town and poor would starve for the lack of a livelihood. In the early 1980s, St Xavier's Behavioural Science Centre, an Ahmedabad-based NGO, encouraged poor farmers living in the …
Corruption can steer even Supreme Court orders astray. In an effort to curb pollution in Delhi, the Supreme Court ordered all government vehicles to start using compressed natural gas (CNG) on an experimental basis. But the order was met with strong resistance, not from powerful bureaucrats but from the drivers …
Small may be beautiful, but not in terms of the bounty. The larger the project, the bigger the "10 per cent" cut allegedly paid as a bribe to politicians and bureaucrats by the contractors. To secure a deal, a contractor pays the signing authority a certain cut from the money …
A group of Bhil villagers, living in the dry and parched Aravalli hilts near Udaipur, told the authors, "We have been strictly warned by our local leader never to ask for a pucca (metalled) road to our village, because what will we then make year after year as part of …
India is rich in biodiversity which, if used properly, could fill the country's coffers with pounds and dollars. It could also alleviate the poverty and suffering of the local people who have the knowledge and access to these resources. Sadly, the laws governing biodiversity exclude their participation. In the process, …
A subsidy is levied on a product to reduce its price. This means the state (read taxpayer) is paying for part of the product. This is done to meet a national objective. Diesel was highly subsidised in India to help the poor farmer run his pumpset for the purpose of …
In the early 1980s, Indians were shocked to read media reports that the police of Bhagalpur was deliberately "blinding" criminals. What the media failed to expose was the link between corruption in the management of a unique ecology and a consequent rise in crime. All this resulted in a typical …
The solutions to corruption lie in a complex and comprehensive set of responses. • There is a need to study and spread greater public awareness about how corruption is gnawing away the vitals of society and affecting its governance system. This is particularly important in a situation when corruption is …
The corrupt normally observe a law of silence. The public , too, suffers in silence. Once in a while someone comes across to rock the boat and spill the beans. Anna Hazare of Ralegan Siddhi is one such person. His name is synonymous with ecological regeneration. But he has also …
Corruption can affect the environment in four different ways: • Corruption will encourage the loot of the natural estate. And what is worse is that when the people begin to see corruption around them and begin to realise that state regulations are meaningless, they too will join in the plunder …
A MALAYSIAN national, Keng Liang Wong, was arrested in Mexico for smuggling exotic reptiles into the US and was charged for helping smuggle hundreds of live Komodo dragons, Timor pythons, Chinese alligators, and other endangered species. Wong was first indicted in 1992 for smuggling iguanas, lizards and turtles into Florida. …
Thousands of Olive Ridleys, an endangered species of sea turtles, are being swept up dead on the Gahirmatha coast since the beginning of the year. This has set alarm bells ringing in the environment community and experts the world over have voiced concern over the issue. Gahirmatha has emerged in …
Orissa chief minister J B Patnaik announced on May 22 that the Gahirmatha beach stretching up to Hukitola in Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary will soon be declared the "core area' where poaching and entry of mechanised trawlers will be strictly prohibited. Expressing concern over the large-scale death of sea turtles, he …
Of all things, sea turtles have become the substance of trade news these days. In March 1998, the US slapped a ban on the import of shrimp from India on the plea that trawlers which fish for shrimp in Indian waters do not use the turtle excluder device. India challenged …
