Written by Gurnur Kaur
Edited by Himanshi Shivani
We are all aware of Project Tiger, aren't we? It was a trending topic for quite a long time. Animal conservation has been highlighted since then. But have you ever heard about the most vivid threat to tigers reported recently?
After Project Tiger, various reserves and sanctuaries are set up for saving them. Some of the prime tiger habitats are home to the largest scheduled tribe population in forestland around India as well. But the matter of concern is that major India's mining deposits are set in around forest areas. The recent studies of tiger estimation show that wildlife is adversely affected by the mining sector.
The states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Orissa are heavily dependent on mineral extraction. Thus, it has a poor and continued decline in the tiger population. This has led to a high degree of overlap between mineral deposits and tiger habitats leading to human-wildlife conflicts. To maintain the connectivity of tigers with mining we need to ensure they do not have a negative impact on each other.
However, the undeniable fact is that the major raw materials of this sector are provided from forest areas only. Therefore, boycotting mining industries around the flora and fauna area is also probably unrealistic. But we even have examples where ongoing mining projects and new project proposals were discontinued and rejected respectively due to ecological concerns as it is a matter of fact that all mining factories, no matter how well they are being executed have a miserable impact on tigers, and considering from a broader perspective on our very own biodiversity. The depressing number of tiger populations is a clear indication of the issue.
To be more specific, let's consider India's diamond jewellery market which is over $10 billion contributing almost 10% to the world's retail market whereas, on the other hand, India is home to about more than half of world's total tiger population which has drastically dropped since the past few years due to habitat loss and poaching. Let's open our eyes now before it's too late!
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