From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed northeastern states, including Meghalaya, to preserve indigenous cows as reports suggested a dwindling population of the cattle.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar asked West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura to attend a meeting on Tuesday to frame a national policy to prevent “rapid decline” of the indigenous breeds of cattle across the country.
“The counsel appearing for the Ministry of Agriculture submits that other states except the above 11 were present in the meeting earlier and some of them have also submitted action taken plan before the Ministry,” the bench said, adding, “We direct all the above states as well as other states to be present before the Commissioner, Department of Animal Husbandry, and the Ministry of Agriculture. The meeting will be held on December 12 (Tuesday).”
NGT directed that a representative of the Ministry of Environment and Forests should also be present at the meeting. It said the report should be submitted in the tribunal before Thursday and posted the matter for hearing on Friday.
A recent study had shown that although livestock is an important component of mixed farming system and plays an important role in the region’s economy, production of milk and milk products in the North East is negligible compared to other states.
The entire region has shared only 6.91per cent of the country’s cattle population.
The order came after advocate Sumeer Sodhi told the bench that 11 states have not submitted their action plan to the ministry for protection of cows and not attended the earlier meeting.
The green panel had earlier directed the Environment Ministry and the Department of Animal Husbandry, which falls under the Agriculture Ministry, to hold a meeting with all states and Union Territories and come out with a common policy on the issue.
It had noted that there was nearly 80 per cent decline in the animal population in Kerala from 2003 to 2012 and claimed such a situation may lead to the extinction of the species in the state.
The order came during the hearing of a plea filed by lawyer Ashwini Kumar who had moved the tribunal against the “looming threat of extinction of indigenous breeds of cattle” in the country.
The tribunal had issued a notice to the Agriculture Ministry on the plea that had also sought a nationwide ban on slaughter of cattle belonging to the indigenous breeds.
Beef ban had created widespread controversy in the region.
Kumar had claimed a steep decline in the indigenous cow population and said Indian cattle were being replaced by exotic and cross-bred cows imported from Europe, Australia and the US.
The population of indigenous cattle as well as the total number has been declining in the NE region over the years, it added.
In terms of milk production the region has shared only 0.93per cent of the total milk production of the country during 2012-13 and consumption of milk and milk products is also low in the region due to food habit and less availability of milk, the study had said.