Odisha Responds To Mamata Banerjee’s ‘Tiger Again Near Bengal’ Claim

Bhubaneswar: No other tiger from Odisha has ventured into West Bengal, Forest & Environment Minister Ganeshram Singh Khuntia asserted on Tuesday.

He was responding to Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s claim that another tiger from the state was spotted in Jharkhand’s Chandil, which borders Purulia, on Monday, while taking a jibe at Odisha for failing to manage tigers and disrupting the lives of people in West Bengal’s border districts.

It stemmed from the Zeenat issue with Mamata expressing displeasure over the tigress being sent back to Similipal Tiger Reserve after being sedated and captured from a forest in West Bengal’s Bankura on December 29 last year. The National Tiger Conservation Authority had then questioned Bengal’s decision to transport Zeenat to Alipore zoo and asked it to immediately send the tigress back to Simlipal Tiger Reserve, where it was introduced on November 14 last year to strengthen its gene pool.

Khuntia said that law is same for all states.

The minister further stated that Mamata is perhaps irked about the double engine BJP governments, both at the Centre and Odisha. “We have enough forests in the state where wildlife abounds. If Odisha did not have adequate space for tigers as being claimed by the Bengal CM, how do we have sanctuaries like Similipal? Animals often stray away from their territories to nearby forests and all governments are expected to cooperate in accordance with the Indian Forest Act,” he said.

Also Read: If You Don’t Have Space…: Upset Over Zeenat’s Return, Mamata Banerjee Hits Out At Odisha

Khuntia also thanked the CM and Bengal’s forest department for its efforts to capture Zeenat.

During a programme to welcome 95 Indian fishermen, who had returned from a Bangladesh jail, at Sagar Island, Mamata said that she has asked chief secretary Manoj Pant to request his Odisha counterpart to send a team of foresters to rescue another tiger roaming close to Bengal borders. “They (Odisha government) do not have proper facilities to house these tigers. If they don’t have resources, they should ask us to permanently house the tigers in Bengal,” she added.

She clarified that the challenges faced during Zeenat’s rescue operation should not be repeated, especially since West Bengal’s forest department is already dealing with a high population of elephants in the region.