 May I come in, sir? Come in, come in. Good afternoon, sir. Good afternoon, sir. You sit down. Fransu? Sir. Fransu is your name? Yes, Akshay. Akshay, sir. Please have a seat. Thank you, sir. Okay. You are from Maharashtra, Nandurbar. Yes. Where it is? Nandurbar? Sir, Nandurbar is the district which is situated in the northwestern part of Maharashtra. Joining to the Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh border. Okay. Is a good district developed? Yes, sir. It is, I cannot say it is developed district, but yes, it has 60, 70% of the population which is tribal in nature. And there are some problems associated with the districts at it, which is the most illiterate, illiteracy ratio is the highest in the district in Maharashtra. Illiteracy is highest? Yes, sir. Okay. Your father is serving now? Sir, he is retired, sir. Retired. Okay. And can you tell me some of his experiences, where all he worked? Sir, he worked as a... First range of service? Yes. First he worked as an assistant plantation officer in the social forestry department. Then he was transferred to the forestry... He worked in territorial range also? Yes. Yes, sir. Where? In Nandurbar district. Then again he got posted into the social forestry. Tell you something about territorial range. You know something about territorial range? How big was the range he worked? What were his duties, responsibilities? Sir, he was... Nandurbar territorial range he was posted. His work was mostly related to the protection and conservation of the forest areas. Prevention of the any illicit wildlife trails. Illicit tellings were there in that area? Protection issues? Yes, sir. In some pockets there were the issues related to the illicit failing. And he dealt with those illicit failing in a much proactive way by using his awareness campaigns. And not just by taking the legal action. He thought that it would be improper to take the ill legal action against them. Rather it is better to empower the people and talk with the students. Have a talk. But if they have committed some offence and they have cut some trees, stolen some timber, the legal action is over? Yes, sir. But I think he thought that the issue with my district, the district from where I belong, is mostly ill literacy and the lack of livelihood opportunities. That is for preventing. Yes. That is for preventing the crime. Yes. But if one crime has already taken place, he cannot simply... Yes, sir. In many instances he has taken such steps that the legal actions against the offenters were taken. Okay. Good. Bird watching. Can you tell me some 5-6 names of 5-6 common birds which you remember? Yes, sir. One is the... I used to do the bird watching in my own area as a backyard bird watcher. Mostly we used to find the migratory birds like pented stork and then the common miners and then knob-billed ducks, various types of ducks we used to found. Then parakeets were there, the red-necked parakeet and the plum-edded parakeet. How many birds you can identify? Sir, I have checklisted around 150 species of the birds. You can identify 150 species? Yes. Yes. Okay. Tell me, you did your MSC from forestry? Yes. Which hostel you stayed? There was a hostel there? Yes, sir. It was Shisham hostel. Shisham, Shisham hostel. It is named by the Shisham... Okay. Tell me how big is the FRI estate? Sir, it is around 1300 acres of the estate. What is the status of that estate? It is a revenue land, protected land, protected forest or what? Sir, it is a reserve forest under the forest department. It has also a range office of itself. It is a notified reserve forest? Sir, I am not sure about its status. Who is the director of FRI? Sir, currently the director of FRI is Dr. Renu Singh, IFS. Of? Which cadet? Sir, MP cadet. I am asking, what is the relationship director? Does he have some role in that? Sir, as far as my knowledge is concerned... Vice chancellor or chancellor or something? No, sir. As far as my knowledge is concerned, director do not play the role, I think. He has some role. Find out. Okay. Thinnings, how many types of thinnings are there? Sir, there is an ordinary thinning. What is the ordinary thinning? You have done MSC in forestry? Yes. Sir, in the ordinary thinning we... No term like ordinary thinning. It is mechanical thinning or silical thinning? You heard of mechanical thinning? Yes, sir. In the mechanical thinning, we generally remove the trees which are of the harvestable size. Peak plantation, after how many years you will do mechanical thinning? Watershed management. What is watershed management? Watershed management is an integrated approach towards the development of the area which is drained by the rivers and its tributaries. What operations you can do there in what is the area, in particular what is the area? Sir, generally we do the catchment area reforestation or sometimes upforestation also. Some check dams we build to prevent the erosion and conserve the water. In a watershed area, whether agriculture activities can continue? Yes, sir. In the watershed is much more wider concept where the agriculture and all human dominated activities also comes. Okay. We have a number of political parties in our country. Any guess how many numbers will be there? 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000. Sir, I am not sure of the number of registered political parties. National level political parties? Sir, I am not sure of the number, sir. Okay. See this, if any political party is there, it has to register itself to with? With the election commission. Election commission of India. Yes. And if some party is not to be recognized, they have done a lot of mischief and violation of code of conduct and many other things. Whether election commission has power to deregister it? Sir, as far as I know, sir, election commission, there were the issues that the election commission do not have the power to deregister the political parties. The collector has done excellent job there during first phase of COVID. Yes. Tell me something. What was appreciated by the prime minister also? What are the models that he followed in Nandubar? Sir. It was in news also. Yes. Sir, the collector at that time was Dr. Rajendra Bharud. And the Nandubar was the district which was facing the massive outbreak of this COVID-19 and there was a very shortage of this oxygen cylinders. So, he was appreciated for his, he predicted that there is going to be a second wave and will face the scarcity of this oxygen in our district. Unfortunately, before the actual second outbreak took place, he installed many oxygen plants, sir, and that's why he was appreciated. And in the second wave, fortunately, less deaths were reported. Okay, right. Okay. What is the role of Geological Survey of India? Where is the headquarters? And actually, what is its role? Geological Survey of India. Sir, the Zoological Survey of India is situated in its headquarters in the Kolkata and its role is mainly the inventory of the species, species of the, species in India and it's checklisting them, finding the new species and all the, it plays that role. Okay. Sir. In biodiversity, there are more number of trees, sorry, more number of plants or more number of animals. In India, species-wise. Sir, I'm not sure but can I take a guess, sir? Yes. Sir, I think there are more number of plant species, sir. Plants. Sir, I'm not sure, sir. Sir. Okay. Okay. Succession. Sir. What do you understand by that? Sir, succession in the ecological terms is the series of events by which an area develops into a, Yes. Development. Can you tell the, in terms of, I mean, species that occupy the bare rock and like that? Yes, sir. Yes. For example, sir, there is a bare land, no vegetation, extreme environment is there. So, the first, first that species that will come is the lichen. The lichen will come and it will modify the environment. It will make the environment. How it will modify lichen? What is the special character? The special character by making more moisture available for the other species, sir. Lichen. Moisture. Moisture, sir. Because lichen is the symbiotic organism consists of algae and fennel. So, it will make the moisture more available to the, that area. And then the area will be occupied by the mosses. Mosses, then the lower plants. And then the high. You tell the, because you are, Guru Rajeev brought me, I mean, I have been your subject. So, I want the, you told mosses, means bryophytes. Yes, sir. Then they tell. The bryophytes. Like that. I want to put it from you. Yes. Bryophytes, teledidophytes, then the gymnosperm and then the angiosperm will dominate the area. Okay. What do we call it? What do you understand by the climatic climax? Since we have done forestry, master degree. So, that's why I am asking in those ecological terms and all these things. What do you understand by climatic climax species? Yes, sir. The climatic climax is the climax species which are, which owes its existence mainly to the climatic factors of that area. For example, the equatorial areas are, is dominated by the equatorial rainforest species. Yes. That is. Okay. Fortification of rice. Recently, our Prime Minister has also promised that during a previous system, the rice will be fortified. What do you understand by that thing? Fortification of rice. What exactly it means? Sir, as far as I know, the fortification of rice is the deliberate addition of the nutrients, micro, micro as well as macro nutrients. What are added and why, what is the objective of hiding? Sir, I think zinc, iron, which are mainly like objective is to improve the new, to decrease the nutritional, whatever the nutritional deficiencies India is facing and it's, to reduce the nutritional deficiency status, we are deliberate addition taking place. Okay. Bharat net. Sir. In what context it is used, the term Bharat net? Sir, I think Bharat net is used in the context of providing the internet connectivity to the panchayats, panchayats, gram panchayats of the age. Only panchayat and village also? Yes sir, village level connectivity of the broadband connectivity. How many villages are there in India? Around? Any figure? 2.5 lakhs. Sir, I can guess 2.5 lakhs village. Only? Sir, I am not sure sir. My last question, Ujjola use now. What do you understand by that? Sir, Ujjola use now is related to the provision of providing the cooking gas and cylinder to the, yes to the women, like women head of the family, like to the poor below poverty line people to reduce their dependence on the biomass or the wood they use for the cooking. It was Ujjola 1, then last year also Prime Minister started Ujjola 2 also in Mahoba. What was, how it is different from Ujjola 1 to Ujjola 2? And how has it impacted the overall forest ecosystem? Is it any effect of that Ujjola use now on the forestry sector? Sir, I am not sure about the differences between Ujjola 1 and Ujjola 2. But yes, sir, the forest cover, the trees outside the forest and the trees inside we have we have seen the substantial decrease in the dependence of the village community on the forest resources for their cooking purposes. And it has also seen in our recent Indian state of forest report that we have increased forest covers. Thank you. Okay. You do bird watching. Yes. So, there is some kind of apprehension that mobile towers affect the bird. Is there any research with proofs, especially the smaller birds? Sir, as far as I know, sir, there are only apprehensions related to it, but not, it is only theories are not any, it is not proven, sir, yet. Okay. Why have we seen a decline in the numbers of sparrows? Sir, the number of the sparrows has declined mainly in the urban areas of India. Mainly due to the expansion urbanization. Second is the destruction of their nesting sites. And third is third and most important reason, which is recently cited by the recent heat waves. The sparrows are very sensitive birds and the recent heat waves has impacted them in a large, in a very big amount, sir. So, these are the reasons. Okay. Why are vultures essential? Sir, in Hindi we call vultures as safai karmachari of the forest. So, they clean the forest area, they feed on the karkas of the animal, dead karkas, and that way they prevent the disease from spreading from one animal to another. So, the spai karmachari is the only forest area? Urban areas? Urban areas. Yes, sir. In the, in the Delhi, sir, I have found one rare endangered species of vulture that is called as Egyptian vulture. So, it was, I think sir, it is also in the urban areas. Do not think. Is there urban areas also? Yes, yes. Rural areas, urban areas, other than the forest areas? Yes, sir. There has been a decline in the number of vultures because of de-clofenac issue. So, have there been any revival of the vultures also in terms of numbers? Well, I think government has taken many steps. Sir, with respect to de-clofenac, I think in 2006 or 2007 government banned the de-clofenac use for the veterinary purposes. And there are many other reasons also for the vulture decline. But I think the issue, steps taken by the state government such as Maharashtra, Maharashtra has established vulture restaurants in the Raigat district and even into Raigat district and Nasik district and even into my district. So, we have seen the increase in the number of vultures nowadays. Okay. And also the efforts of vulture breeding centre which is there in the Pinjore, Ariyana. So, with that, the vulture number has increased. Why are wetlands important for bird conservation? Sir. Wetlands are important in a sense that they are the habitat for many migratory birds which India receives. They are also the nesting sites, nesting sites as also as a breeding sites such as red-vatter lapping is the bird which lays its eggs on the fringes, on the grasses on the fringes of the wetland. So, in that way the wetland is very essential for the birds. It also acts as the feeding ground. It is fishes and also in that way the wetlands are important. What are living fossils? Sir, living fossils are the plant or animal which are the sole representative of their genus, I think. I can cite an example. There is a plant called as Jinko biloba. That is the sole representative of its old genus, sir. It has been living in since very long time. Are birds also called living fossils? Or dinosaurs? Sir, I am not sure, sir, about it. Okay, all right. Sir, should cheetah be reintroduced in India? And are there any plans? Sir, there are many issues associated with the cheetah relocation. One of the first positive aspects of the cheetah relocation is that it was like a sense of pride. It has been extinct in India since long time. And we have good areas, sites such as Kunopalpur Wildlife Sanctuary. Then Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary is there. So we have pretty good habitat for the reintroduction of the cheetah in India. But at the same time, sir, we also look into the consideration that the introduction of cheetah will be a major challenge. For example, if you introduce cheetah into the Madhya Pradesh, the Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary comes into the tiger corridor. So there are the apprehensions that there may be a major tiger and cheetah conflict into the area. So we have to look into the several parameters which are there, which are also given by the IOCN before the reintroduction of cheetah. Okay, last question. What more needs to be done to tackle the menace of plastic? Sir, recently government has amended the plastic waste management rule and it has increased the thickness of, I think, 75 mm thickness. Below the 75 mm thickness, the plastic bags won't be allowed. The second is that besides reducing the plastic uses, we have to also have to focus on the alternative such as the bioplastics which are degradable in nature. And I have seen, as I live in the Karolabad area, I have seen the many shops which are there, they are giving these bioplastic bags which are degradable in nature. So we have to focus on that, sir. Thank you. All right, Mr. Akshay. So the earlier part of the discussion, chairperson was asking about the five birds. Can you name some five birds? Not very common because we are mentioning about minors and so on. Because if you have a checklist of 150, you must mention something not very common. Yes, sir. Sir, first one, of course, the first is the red-headed vulture which is not so very common in India. The second is the Siberian crane which is critically endangered bird. Have you seen those birds? Sir, I have seen the red-headed vulture but not the Siberian cranes. They are migrated birds, no? Not a red-headed vulture but a Siberian crane. Yes, Siberian crane is a migratory. Are they still coming? The number has reduced but yes, they are coming to the some pockets of Rajasthan and some... I think they stopped coming. 2003 onwards, I don't think Siberian cranes are coming to Indians of Karnataka. Sir, I need to look into the data. They are not coming to Ghana bird sanctuary but I don't think they are coming to India. Sorry, sir. Yeah. And then there are some red birds like the Great Indian Buster which is also like flagship species of the grasslands in India. Then the knob-billed duck which comes to the... which is also migratory from the Central Asia, it comes. So, like that, there are many... You come from a region which is also habitat to one of the rarest bird in India. Yes, sir. My district has the largest population of the forest outlet. How many are there? Sir, it is not exactly like the population estimation was done into the district and there are more than... more than, I think, 200 forest outlets are there. Which is... It is the approximate numbers. Which is the rarest bird you have seen? Sir, this one only. Forest outlet. Forest outlet. You have seen that too. Now, what is the difference between sentinel species and indicator species? Sir... Sentinel species and indicator species. Sir, I am not sure what exactly the sentinel species is. What about indicator species? Sir, indicator species are the species which shows the environments. For example, sir, the lichen. Lichen is part of the indicator species. When there is a pollution in the city or when there is excessive air pollution in the city, the number of lichens decreases. So, by that way, the indicator species shows the state of environment in that area. Sir, you said you have spent some time in Karol Bagh, is it? Yes, sir. Have you seen any indicator species here? Or absence of indicator species? I think it is very rare to see any species here. Sir, I have seen the one bird during the lockdown, sir. It is not usually seen in Delhi. But during the lockdown, when there were very less pollution levels were very less, noise levels were very less, I have seen one bird which is called as Golden Oriole there, sir. So, I think, sir, it indicated that how we can do reduction in the pollution can be a best habitat for the animals. What is the, when you say canary in the cave, what does it mean? Sir, I am not sure of the terms. All right. So, you have mentioned about human wildlife conflict. Yes. And in the two years back, the WWF reports spoke about human wildlife conflict should be included in sustainable development goal. What is your view? Should we include this and what is urgency of suggesting that it should be included? Sir, this urgency has also been shown by our recent National Action Plan for Wildlife. We have seen that other than the some charismatic species, other species are decreasing at the rapid rate. We are, scientists have said that we are facing the sixth mass extinction. And in that way, sir, there is also need for the landscape-based approach for human and animal coexistence. And the landscape-based approach should be taken under the consideration to deal with the human wildlife conflict. And I think, sir, yet it should be included as our sustainable, in the sustainable development goal. Also, another important factor is the climate change, which is going to drive this crisis. Human wildlife crisis is going to be driven by climate change. There is a very important factor for it to be suggested. Do you think so? Do you think climate change is an important factor? Yes, sir. The climate change is a very important factor which plays a role in increasing the human wildlife conflict. For example, the zoonotic diseases are also increasing. All right, that is a different point. Okay, last question. This report also praised India for something called Sonithpur model of wildlife conflict. Human wildlife conflict, Sonithpur model, has been traced. Are you aware of what exactly is Sonithpur model? Sir, I am not sure about this. It is about human-elephant conflict and how to tackle it. You can read about it. Yes. Thank you.