Bird Trade in Crawford Market, Mumbai

The number of offence cases booked and the number of birds seized from the Crawford Market during the last six years are enlisted below.

       --------------------------------------
        Year    No. of cases    No. of birds
                   booked          seized
       --------------------------------------
        1993-94       8              771
        1994-95       6             1353
        1995-96       1              694
        1996-97      10              725
        1997-98       2               59
        1998-99       7             4407
       --------------------------------------

Almost all bird traders have been booked under the Wildlife (P) Act many times due to excess stock. It was, therefore, felt necessary to cancel the licences in accordance with the rules. The DCF(WL), Thane was requested to take stringent measures to curb the illegal trade. Finally, the licences of all the bird dealers in Crawford Market were cancelled by the DCF(WL), Thane. Out of the total number of 17 licences cancelled, 11 licences were cancelled during the year 1997-98. Many traders filed appeal petitions to the Chief Wildlife Warden and also to the state government against the orders of the DCF(WL).

At present, five traders have preferred appeals to the state government since August, 1998. The final decision of the state government is awaited. After the decision of the state government, necessary action will be initiated to seize/confiscate the stock of various bird dealers in Crawford Market.

A network of about 520 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries have been set up in the country for the protection and conservation of biological diversity, including wildlife. Species specific projects are being run under the Ministry of Environment & Forests. These are Project Tiger, Project Elephant and Project Turtle. Eco-development activities are being undertaken around the periphery of protected areas. Financial assistance is being provided for the protection of wildlife infrastructure development, habitat development, improvement of communication facilities, including the wireless network.

During the current plan period the allocation for the wildlife sector is Rs 520 crore and the amount for the current year (1998-99) is Rs 120.08 crore.

The priorities for wildlife conservation during the current plan period include :

• Control of poaching and illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products
  
• Development of protected areas network
  
• Eco-development around protected areas
  
• Welfare measures for wildlife staff
  
• Eco-tourism
  
• Wildlife conservation outside protected areas
  
• Prevention and reduction of damage to wildlife
  
• Establishment of a second home for the Asiatic Lion
  

To sustain the biological diversity in the country, the Ministry has formulated an all India coordinated project for building capacity in taxonomy. The project has been formulated after identifying critically important areas and gaps in taxonomy work. The objectives of the project are :

• Survey and identification of unexplored and under-explored groups of flora and fauna
  
• Creation/augmentation of taxonomic expertise and capacity
  
• Introduction of new and desirable fields of information in taxonomic work.