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“I think there should be regulations on social media to the degree that it negatively affects the public good” … Elon Musk.
Interestingly, this quote of Mr Musk was before he owned social media platform X (earlier twitter), as it would be interesting what his opinion about regulating social media now! Well, the reason for my using his quote about social media & the subject of sharing i.e. tigers & plastic & tourists, well sure you must be confused, so let me explain. Recently there was a video of a tigress picking up a plastic water bottle from a water body & carrying it in her mouth. The clip went viral on social media & no wonder if news media roped in to encash the popularity of this viral clip! Most of the newspapers printed photos of the tigress with water bottle in her mouth & how we are polluting the forests & how forest dept is incapable of protecting wildlife & how the tourism in forests is hazardous (read as threat) to the wildlife, here is a living proof etc! Keeping due respect to hard-core studied journalists, I thought of writing to one of the leading newspapers just to clarify the facts about such news & its wrong impact on society, as of-late journalism about wildlife (about anything) has become social-media journalism. Means instead of going to actual such sites (forests in this case) most young journalists prefer to research on google & make some calls with people around at such spots & write what they think is right! In present case of tigress carrying plastic water bottle video news, I don't say plastic bottles use is right or this image is wrong but these things do happen in buffer of tadoba or any Project Tiger (protected forest) where villagers are supposed to move around freely and there are nearly 200 plus villages and 1 lakh human population with 200 tigers among them in tadoba buffers!! In Nimdhela buffer (from where the clip is supposedly shot) itself right at the heart of this forest there are temples of local gods and residents visit them at their will and tigers also are around. The bottle may be outcome of such visitors & not thrown from any tourist, rather tadoba is first national park where plastic water bottles are not allowed to be carried in the safari & yet the media blatantly made an allegation on the forest dept & wildlife tourism for this plastic bottle which finds its way to the tigress!! Rather the tigers are going to survive by coexistence, this doesn’t mean we stop tourism or curse it but take proper care, make local people aware about the right way of living with wild animals instead of getting panic or glorifying such news is what I feel. Rather it’s the wildlife tourism which is making the locals around the forests able to survive so we must promote this activity & off-course without disturbing wildlife as this tigress’s video got shot because it’s by some wildlife tourist & in tourism zone but there are hundreds of such tigers & other wild animals which are moving out of tourism zones, who is looking after them, is the question the media should ask! And this is why it is high time to make the media i.e. journalists first aware about facts of wild life & right ways to conserve it as then only they can analyse such stories in the right spirit & convey them to the society!
To my surprise when I shared these views with Mr Sangoram, a very senior & respected name in journalism, he immediately asked me to email me my views & published the same in his newspaper. And then one reader wrote me a mail after going through the same, actually I have shared my above-mentioned views & pressed the issue of space being reduced of the tigers & look the way this gentleman has twisted my views & cross-questioned me & my intentions which shows ignorance about understanding the needs of wildlife leave apart accepting its importance! This person called me an environmentalist using that term as a curse or taboo & challenged the need of giving space itself to the tigers! This is what we are fighting with as I don’t blame this man as he at least read my article & shared his view but even when I replied his email still, he was of opinion that tiger conservation is being over-glorified & asking to give them space is against the development, on which I could only say thanks of your insight! ...
Sharing our conversation over email as it is, for genuineness…
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*Xxxxxx Pandit writes:
हल्ली अनेक लेखांत शेवटी लेखकाचा ईमेल देतात. त्या वर प्रतिक्रिया लिहिल्यास लेखक उत्तर देने तर दूर, acknowledge पण करत नाहीत असा अनुभव आल्या नंतर प्रतिक्रिया लिहिणे बंद केले होते, पण तुमच्या लेखात काही गोष्टी अश्या आहेत की प्रतिक्रिया लिहिण्याचा मोह आवरेना.
1: आपल्या देशामध्ये माणसांची संख्या १५० कोटी आहे तर वाघांची संख्या ३,७५० आहे. म्हणजेच जवळपास चार लाख माणसांच्या मागे एक वाघ आहे व वर्षभरात २०० वाघांचा मृत्यू म्हणजे वर्षभरात जवळपास आठ कोटी माणसांचा मृत्यू होण्यासारखे आहे. आता तुम्हाला या आकड्यांचे गांभीर्य समजू शकेल. तुम्ही असे म्हणू शकता की ही तुलना मूर्खपणाची आहे किंवा मला वेड लागले आहे.
"मूर्खपणाची" हा जरा कठोर शब्द झाला, पण ही तुलना निश्चितच excellent arithmetic, but absurd logic आहे.
Pinta Giant Tortoise. The last known Pinta giant tortoise (Chelonoidis abingdonii) was Lonesome George, an icon of the Galapagos, who died in captivity on June 24, 2012.
2012 मध्ये संपूर्ण जगाची जनसंख्या 715 कोटी इतकी होती. आणि त्या वेळी फक्त एक Pinta Giant Tortoise होते. म्हणजे दर 715 कोटी लोकां मागे 1 Pinta Giant Tortoise. ते मेले (sad, but it did), म्हणजे सर्व 715 कोटी लोक मेल्या सारखे आहे. excellent arithmetic, but absurd logic
2: या सर्व मृत्यूंमागचे मूलभूत कारण एकच आहे ते म्हणजे वाघांसाठीची जागा कमी होणे.
No, that is your assumption. You have not offered any data to say that lack of space was the sole cause of death. अश्वत्थामा अमर होता/ आहे. पण वाघ म्हणजे काही अश्वत्थामा नव्हे. इतर सर्व प्राण्यां प्रमाणे त्याला पण कधी तरी मृत्यू येणारच. 200 वाघ मेले, त्या पैकी किती Natural death होते; किती मृत्यू due to poaching; किती मृत्यू इतर कारणे; . . . वगैरे कोणतीही आकडेवारी तुम्ही दिलेली नाही. Poaching is illegal. Crime. But, please note it is not related to tiger area. i.e. reduction of tiger area does not result in increased poaching. No relationship.
3: वाघांसाठीची जागा कमी होणे.
परंतु त्यांना जगण्यासाठी आवश्यक असलेली जागा उपलब्ध करून देण्यात आपण अपयशी ठरत आहोत
त्यांची स्वतःची जागा असेल, अशा एका जगाची निर्मिती करण्यात आपण अपयशी ठरलो आहोत,
तीन वेळा तुम्ही तेच लिहिल, की त्यांना जगण्यासाठी जागा पाहिजे. पण एकदाही तुम्ही ती जागा किमान किती असावी, ( किती Sq Km) यांचा अंदाज दिला नाहीत.
पर्यावरणवादी लोकां बरोबर कोणताही संवाद होऊ शकत नाही त्याचे हे एक मुख्य कारण आहे. (इतर पण आहेत). त्यांना काहीतरी हवे असते, पण ते नेमके काय ते त्यांना माहीत तरी नसते, किंवा माहीत असले तरी ते सांगत नाहीत. Perhaps because त्यांना हे पण उमजते कि आपली अपेक्षा अव्यवहार्य आहे. This sets environmentalists apart from anyone else. viz. If an economist says 4% GDP Growth is not enough, he/she also says, to be a developed country it should be at least 7.5%. (or some such figure). If a doctor says 100 mg dose is not enough, he/she also says, increase it to 500 mg. A couple looking for a house, if they say 1 BHK is not enough, or 450 SqFt is not enough, they say, we need at least 1.5 BHK, preferably 2 BHK, or we need at least 750 SqFt. Workers negotiating a pay rise / bonus have to say how much hike, or bonus they expect. etc. etc. From a very learned economist or a doctor, to a simple housewife or workers, everyone understands that merely saying something is not enough is meaningless unless you say how much it should be.
Except environmentalists. They only say this is not enough, but never say how much is required. Only saying space for tigers is not enough, doesn't serve any purpose. You have to make an estimate how much it should be, and only then one can examine whether or not that is feasible….
*Sanjay Deshpande writes:
dear chetan...
thanks a lot for your detailed email,
first thing I am not "Paryavaran wadi”, rather I am not any "wadi", i am a civil engineer & i go only by facts & logic!
about your points... the writeup was covering your few aspects but has been cut short for space issue..
1. about arithmetic, which is absurd for many as they dont understand what is wildlife conservation.. if you want to save the tigers then first you must ask to save from whom & then the answer is obviously, save from humans, that's why the arithmetic analogy with human population vs tigers population!
2. You are right, tigers do die natural death but these 200 tigers have died not by natural death & but are the outcome of territorial fights, or poaching or road accidents or conflicts with humans etc! All of these are not natural reasons & the conflicts, may it be between two tigers or humans is due to reduction in space. And all this data is available on NTC's website, so i didn’t wasted time & space in it!
3. A male tiger's territory is 50sq km & a female tiger's nearly 12-15 sq km (its space they need)! You didnt get my point, we cant provide them space as its not just space like flat but they need interiors i.e. habitat( complete forest with animals & shelter) which we won't ever be able to now as we are already using that land for us, what i was telling is, make the humans learn to live with the tigers in the space, It mean use wildlife tourism & try reducing more encroachment in the forests around the project tigers where these tigers are living already!
you can read in detail about the subject on the link below & do ask for any more clarification, will be happy to answer in my best capacity...
https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2023/11/no-more-dead-bajrang.html
https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2024/02/project-tiger-wildlife-hope.html
thanks for your interest
sanjay
*xxxxxx Pandit writes:
Paryavaranwadi is not a formally conferred title. It is a way of thinking, that gets revealed from what one speaks/ writes. You wrote :
आपल्या नियोजनामध्ये केवळ माणसांवरच लक्ष केंद्रित केल्यामुळे, आपण इतर प्रजातींना संपवत आहोत. कारण आपण केवळ माणसांच्या गरजांसाठी नियोजन करत आहोत. माणसांमुळे दररोज केवळ वाघांनाच नव्हे तर बिबटे, हरीण, गेंडे व हत्ती व अशा सर्व प्रजातींना प्रचंड धोका निर्माण झाला आहे. कारण आपण अक्षरशः त्यांच्याच वाट्याचे अन्न खात आहोत, त्यांचे पाणी पीत आहोत व आपल्या गरजांसाठी (म्हणजे हव्यासासाठी) त्यांची घरे नष्ट करत आहोत. केवळ वन्यजीवनच नाही, आपल्या १५० कोटींहून अधिक जनतेला राहण्यासाठी जागा हवी आहे, म्हणून आपण आपल्या नद्या, तलाव, टेकड्या, समुद्राचा विनाश करत आहोत.
Now it is for the readers to interpret this, and as a reader I perceive it as typical Paryavaranwadi.
A lot of above is not true. viz. आपल्या नियोजनामध्ये केवळ माणसांवरच लक्ष केंद्रित (करत आहोत) is not true. Any new major infrastructure requires environmental clearance; the process involves preparation of a EIA and EMP report; which is examined by a multi-disciplinary Expert Appraisal Committee in the MoE&F. The project is cleared only if the EAC recommends it. The process can take years. The environmental laws are very strict and MoE&F has veto power, i.e. in a infrastructure ministry versus MoE&F tussle, the MoE&F will prevail, always. A project also needs clearance from the National Wild Life Board, that factors in the requirements of wild life.
If not satisfied with the environmental clearance given by MoE&F, there is the NGT and then the SC. Now a days, a PIL is the NGT is a norm. Many projects, cleared by the MoE&F have been shut down by court orders, even if to the detriment of economy. Viz. the Sterlite Copper plant at Tuticorin was shut down by Madras HC, which overnight made India dependent on China for copper. But, it was shut down. The Ken Betwa link is now under examination by the NGT, for its impact on Panna Tiger Reserve. And can be taken up only if NGT clears it.
A project cleared by MoE&F can be challenged in NGT/SC; but there is no “inverse challenge”. i.e. if MoE& says ‘Yes’ to a project, NGT can make it ‘No’. But if MoE&F says ‘No’ to a project, people can’t go to NGT to make it ‘Yes’.
The point is, the statement आपल्या नियोजनामध्ये केवळ माणसांवरच लक्ष केंद्रित (करत आहोत) is wrong, baseless. Perhaps what you meant was, what we are doing is not enough. Had you said that, perhaps the readers would have perceived you differently. BTW - 3750 tigers x 50 Sq Km per tiger = 1,87,500 SqKm. Sparing so much area only for tiger, is impossible. This is another typical Paryavaranwadi way of thinking. काही तरी अप्राप्य अशी मागणी करायची, आणि मग ते मिळल नाही, की विकासाच्या नांवाने आक्रोश करायचं. असो, हा विषय खूप विस्तृत आहे.
*sanjay deshpande writes:
thanks for your insight, I. will keep it in mind :)
I concluded conversation with last single line reply, btw, in the year 2021 our country’s forest cover was approx. 7,14,00 sq km which is 24% of our total area i.e. 32.87 lakh sq km & it’s getting reduced every hour is a fact & that is major problem in conservation of wild life, is what I was trying to point & never said we stop development, but ok! I could have replied all above things again in detail to this person’s second email where he mentioned NGT, Ministry of Environment & Wildlife Board etc, agreed, all these systems are in place but had that been enough then I wouldn’t have been writing this sharing in the first place, right? And this is where the role of news-media & journalism is going to play a very vital role in making the society understand facts of wildlife & unless the media understands wildlife in the right way, we can’t expect them to convey the essence to the society! While I was writing this sharing, one more news came about some drunk tourists in tadoba; well, in a country with 150 crores plus humans there will be bad elements & they are everywhere, even in places like Taj Mahal you will find bad tourists! Same way, drunk driving is a crime even in the cities yet we get thousands of cases of drunk driving but we don’t close all roads for all people because of such news about drunk driving, right? This is why, role of forest dept (pro-active role) & NGO’s is vital as they must take lead & make media people aware about wildlife facts. Wildlife tourism is the only rational & sustainable link between humans & wild animals, making them learn to coexist & one wrong news about wildlife tourism is like a virus, killing this link itself, mind it, adios with this note!
Sanjay Deshpande
Sanjeevani Dev.
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