The mission envisaged by Wildlife Institute of India is often mismatching with the ground realities in the country. Explain with relevant examples. (200 Words)
Refer - The Indian Express
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 6 years
KEY POINTS
Wildlife institute of India Mission
To nurture the development of wildlife science and promote its application in conservation, in consonants with our cultural and socio-economic milieu.
Ground Realities
Deviating from recommendations made by statutory panels under the Environment Ministry, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has virtually cleared the way for at least two proposed mega hydel power projects in Arunachal Pradesh’s Dibang Valley and Lohit districts, one of India’s most biodiverse landscapes.
(a) Demwe Hydroelectric power project:
· To be constructed across Lohit river, the project will almost touch the border of the Kamlang sanctuary (only 50 metres away) although areas within 10-km radius of protected areas are to be considered ecologically-sensitive.
· The project is also in extreme proximity of a cultural heritage site, Parasuram Kund, and will submerge parts of the Parshuram Kund Medicinal Plant Conservation Area identified for the conservation of Globally Significant Medicinal Plants by the environment ministry.
· The project will cause serious fragmentation of the aquatic habitat in the Lohit river due to the breakage of longitudinal connectivity of the river, impact on the Gangetic River Dolphin, the national aquatic animal in the Lohit river in downstream areas in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
(b) The Etalin hydel project:
· Etalin, a run-of-the-river project that will need little water storage, will be one of the biggest hydropower projects in India in terms of installed capacity.
· It envisages construction of two dams—on the Dir river near Yuron village and a 80-metre high dam on Tangon river.
· The Dri and Tangon rivers are tributaries of Dibang. This will affect the sedimentation budget of the dibang river, correspondingly the biodiversity of the river.
Ministry of Transport and Highways flagged off several road development works in Chandrapur district, Maharashtra. The Tadoba tiger reserve is located close by and about 100 km of roads will cut through tiger corridors.
In these contexts WII assumes a greater significance in making decisions about protecting biodiversity and the environment.
