What action have you taken, Governor Acharya asks Munda

Ubated rhino killings

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, May 13: Concerned and disturbed over the ubated poaching of rhinos, Governor PB Acharya has written a letter to State Forest minister Atuwa Munda, seeking an action-taken report from him.

In his letter, the Governor said, "We all know that the poaching and killing of rhinos in the State has become one of the major environmental threats in our country. The one-horned rhino is surviving in Northeast which accounts for almost 95% of the total wild one-horned rhinos in the world.

"It should be a serious concern for all of us to preserve and protect this precious species. We should leave no stone unturned in rooting out this dastardly mece which predicts the extinction of one of the rarest species of wildlife of the country," he said. 

"I am sure, the Government of Assam has taken maximum possible steps to control the situation but, I, somehow feel there is something lacking and which is why the problem still prevails. Rhinos are being intermittently done to death frequently," he said.   

"We have nearly 1,200 security staff.  In addition, it has come to light that the Ministry of Environment, Government of India had approved the constitution of a Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) comprising of 112 personnel with 100 percent Central assistance of Rs 3.72 crore at that point of time, which is yet to materialize despite repeated persuasion by the Government of India and the tiol Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)," he said.

The Governor asked why has the State government failed to raise the Special Tiger Protection Force so far.

"Have we appointed any private informers to report such happenings or do we have any intelligence reports and inputs to act accordingly? I would like to know the steps taken by you in this regard and I am always here to extend helping hand for successfully putting an end to the peril of the rhino's existence and to uphold its right to live free," the Governor wrote to Munda.  

The Governor also asked the Forest minister to meet him before May 15 along with the security head at the Kaziranga tiol Park.