NEWS

The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday quashed the State Government’s 2019 notification of handing over Yelahanka Puttenahalli Lake Bird Conservation Reserve to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for maintenance.

ABOUT THE LAKE

• 10-hectare water body
• On Doddaballapur Road
• Managed by Forest Department
• Houses many Trees
• Famous for the migratory birds roosting at the lake
• Upstream merges with Attur Lake and down stream Yelahanka Lake Wet land between the Puttenahalli and Yelahanka
• Provide ample food for the birds.
• Natural purifier for the water that reaches the Yelahanka Lake.
• Prominent because more than 7,000 birds can be sighted during the breeding season
• ‘Avifauna’ of this lake also includes some of the endangered and migratory birds from the Northern Himalayas and Siberia.
• Many species which are listed under threatened category of (IUCN) find this lake as their favorite abode during breeding season.

WHAT DID COURT SAY –  Chief Wildlife Warden is the competent authority to control, manage and maintain the bird conservation reserve

HOW DOES CHIEF WILDLIFE WARDEN GET POWER – Wildlife Protection Act

SALIENT FEATURES OF WILDLIFE PROTECTION ACT

• Provides for the protection of a listed species of animals, birds, and plants, and also for the establishment of a network of ecologically-important protected areas in the country.
• Provides for the formation of wildlife advisory boards, wildlife wardens, specifies their powers and duties, etc.
• Helped India become a party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
• A comprehensive list of the endangered wildlife of the country was prepared.
• Prohibited the hunting of endangered species.
• Scheduled animals are prohibited from being traded as per the Act’s provisions.
• Provides for licenses for the sale, transfer, and possession of some wildlife species.
• Establishment of wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, etc.
• Provisions paved the way for the formation of the Central Zoo Authority. This is the central body responsible for the oversight of zoos in India. It was established in 1992.
• Created six schedules which gave varying degrees of protection to classes of flora and fauna.
• Provided for the establishment of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.