Centre moots stringent laws to conserve wildlife

Tirupati, March 7: To effectively check the growing menace of animal poaching and smuggling of forest wealth and curb forest-related crimes, the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, would be amended during the ongoing Parliament session, according to the Union minister for environment and forests, Mr Jairam Ramesh.
Addressing a press conference, Mr Ramesh, who arrived here from Hyderabad to participate in various programmes in the temple town, said that a bill amending the Wildlife Act will be passed in the Parliament soon.
“Punishments under the proposed amendment will be on par with the Foreign Exchange Violation Act to conserve wildlife effectively,” he maintained.
The three zoological parks in the state would be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore. The prestigious Sri Venkateswara Zoo Park would be developed on the standards of the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad, which gets an annual collection of Rs 5 crore.
“There is a prohibition on the export of red sanders in the form of logs and these should be converted into a value added form for export,” he informed officials and asked them to make procedures in that direction.
He said that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) would be approached for providing sufficient funds for the SV Zoo Park.
Earlier, Mr.Ramesh inaugurated battery cars at the SV Zoo Park for visitors, particularly the physically challenged and the aged.
Before leaving for New Delhi, the Union minister inaugurated the Indian Climate Observatory Network (ICON) at the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL) near Gadanki, about 35 Kms from here.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chairman, Dr K. Radhakrishnan, planning commission member and former Isro chairman, Dr K. Kasturirangan, who inaugurated the Lower Atmospheric Wind Profiling (LAWP) Radar at NARL and other officials including junior and senior scientists, were among the minister's entourage.