Dead croc story gets buried!

Thursday, July 01, 2010 . Page 24

“Even after a week going by, no one has been able to pinpoint the reason for the crocodile’s death. Looking at the putrefied body, an autopsy is out of question,” said the vets from the forest department on Wednesday, who examined the body of the crocodile that was found dead and floating on the Powai Lake.

It may be recalled that ADC was the only newspaper to report about the sad end of the crocodile, (Tears for the crocodile, June 30).

After an inspection, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) along with forest department officials, at around 8 pm on Wednesday, buried the croc’s body, leaving a question mark over its death.

According to Dr. Jangle, “The body had decomposed to a level where autopsy was simply not possible.”

However, it seems that the BMC official aren’t keen on further investigations, and are assuming that the crocodile could have died a natural death.

Pramod Guhe, Deputy Hydraulic Engineer, said, “There were no injury marks on the body. Neither did the lake have bodies of other animals suggesting that the water is pollution free. All of which indicated that the crocodile must have died a natural death.”

A Fountain Out Of Sync

Mumbai . Saturday, August 29, 2009 . Front Page

Naturalists furious with BMC’s plan for Powai Lake

City-based environmentalists and bird experts are opposing a musical fountain which is to be part of a BMC project to beautify the Powai Lake. They claim that this fountain will attract visitors but will end up disturbing the birds around the lake. PAWS-Mumbai (Plant & Animals Welfare Society – Mumbai), a city-based NGO has filed a complaint with the local MLA and State Home Minister, Naseem Khan, requesting that the natural habitat of the Powai lake not be disturbed. The construction would endanger the existence of marine life and harm the fishes, turtles, crocodiles and other wildlife in the lake. It will also disturb the arrival of rate migratory birds to the lake.

Talking to ADC, Sunish Subramanian of PAWS-Mumbai said, “When the project got started, we personally complained about the musical fountain to Mayor Subha Raul, but she ignored our concerns. We have therefore complained to Naseem Khan. The BMC project is one unfortunate step in the wrong direction, and will disturb the birds and animals living in and around the lake.”

According to Adesh Shivkar, Environmentalist and bird expert, “Mumbai has already witnessed massive destruction of its green cover and we are seeing the harsh consequences. Instead of saving the remaining patches of biodiversity, we are further disturbing and degrading them. Powai is not just a lake, but an excellent example of a rich biodiversity habitat that harbours several species of birds, fish, and plants. Any change or disturbance will destroy this fragile and sensitive habitat irreversibly. I think we have abused nature enough. Now let leave the nature as it is.”

The beautification project, which includes a musical fountain in the middle of the lake, a jogging track, and a garden, is being done at a cost of Rs.31 crore.

Officials from the Hydraulic Department, who are having the responsibility of this project said, “The musical fountain is only part of the beautification and musical will be soft and instrumental. It will not harm marine and bird life. If environmentalists oppose this fountain, we will talk to them and find out a solution.”

PAWS activist get threatening calls

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 . ADC City . Page 6

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Rescuing birds from a home has proved to be an unrewarding experience for a member of PAWS-Mumbai, as the owner of the confiscated birds is now threatening to take revenage from him.

It may be recalled that the Mumbai’s based PAWS, an NGO, had recently initied a special drive against people who keep many birds at their homes. Two week ago, memebers of the NGO got information that Kandivli based Pankaj Pawar had kept many birds illegally in his house. PAWS-Mumbai then lodged a complaint with Vigilance officers of the Forest Department who raided and rescued 25 muniyas and five parrots from residence.

Case Against Cruelty To Animals, Culprit Goes Scot-Free

Monday, July 6, 2009 . Page 24

It is famous that if police get wind of any criminal activity, they never miss a chance to nab the accused. But in the case of animals, particularly horses, which died about a month ago, there has been no real effort. A Mumbai-based NGO, working for the welfare of animal has alleged that, in this case, it has provided all the evidence against the owner of the animals, who can actually be held directly responsible for their death. However, the police are yet to make an arrest.

On June 14, around 2.45 pm, people saw two horses fall off the Andher flyover. After seeing that no one came forward to claim the animals, the Mumbai based NGO took the initiative and filed a complaint with the Andheri Police Station.

The NGO also started its own investigation and found that both the horses belonged to a person named Robert.

This was confirmed by his neighbours, who said that Roberts two horse were seen around in the area after June 14. They had come to know that Robert had later buried one of the horses, while one was admitted to a hospital where it died.

Armed with all this evidence, Sunish Subramanian, founder member of PAWS-Mumbai, who is also the complainant in the case, approached the investigating officers, and offered to help them with the investigations. Even after evidence was provided against Robert, the police had not taken any initiative to interrogate or nab him.

Subramanian is also alleging that some people, mostly youngsters, used to make the horses race along the western Express Highway. The young boys usually chose Sundays for such races.

The Andheri Police have filed an FIR under Section 11 A (1) (2) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960. When contacted, to A.A. Sonawane, Investigation Officer on the case told this newspaper, “We have got information about Robert, but before taking any further steps in the matter, we wanted to have proper and irrefutable evidence in the case.”