From ixedoc@SULEKHA.COM Mon Nov 1 16:25:45 2004 Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 05:11:07 -0700 From: Arunachalam KumarTo: nathistory-india@Princeton.EDU Subject: Freed from Veerappan, and now free for all [ The following text is in the "UTF-8" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] From : Dr Arunachalam Kumar Sandalwood smuggler, poacher and brigand Veerappan ruled the dense forests of south India like a sheik. His writ ran large, over biota and habitat. Two and half decades of hunt, has at last yielded results. He was shot dead in an ambush last week. The jungles of Mudumalai, Sathyamangalam, Bandipur, MM Hills and Nilgiris can at last breathe free. The elephant corridors are no traps now, and wildlife can just remain that, wildlife. Gone are the days when they and their cubs shivered at the reverberating reports of powerful rifles. But is the peace ethereal? Is it real? No one knows. With Veerappan around, even the petty trappers and minor thieves of jungle produce, skin and claw, the small time poachers, all, stayed away from the forests. Now, with their nemesis rid, they will stage a comeback with a bang. The wherewithal of the wildlife officials is limited and their expertise in policing such large tracts of dense forests is inadequate. Will the riddance of Veerappan be now replaced with a far more effective, and larger scale of animal hunting and poaching? I fear so. Driving through the Bandipur belt, some years ago, I paused to read a roadside signage. In bold red letters the cautionary sign read (in Tamil) â^À^ØWarning. This is a Veerappan haunt. trespassers beware . The sign was erected by the forest department. So powerful was the stranglehold of this rogue. Not only did the animals cower, but humans too, shivered. Murders and kidnappings for ransom was the order of the day. Stay off the jungle was the law. Veeerappanâ^À^Ùs Law. Even the tycoons that ran the illegal granite blasting and dynamiting industry, avoided the place. Now it is a free virgin territory. What does the future hold for the Indian Elephant, the Tiger and the thousands of other denizens of the zone, is moot. ________________________________________________________________________________ Sulekha Star Gallery Bollywood Stars -- Served Sizzling Hot & Spicy! http://www.sulekha.com/movies