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As BJP-ruled Gujarat and Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh engage in war of words over Narmada waters, MP’s forest minister has added another point to the controversy—Gujarat’s refusal to part with Asiatic lions despite Supreme Court’s ruling.
“When Gujarat can get Narmada waters, when they can get greenery (due to Narmada waters), why can’t MP get lions? It’s Hindustan (one country) and it’s a union of states,’’ MP forest minister Umang Singhar said in the Assembly, during a debate on budgetary demands for forest department.
The minister said the SC wants Asiatic lions to be shifted to different places to save them (in case of an epidemic in Gujarat) and crores have been spent to develop an alternate home for the animals at the Kuno-Palpur sanctuary in Sheopur district of MP.
“But the government in Delhi (Centre) does not want that to happen despite apex court rulings,’’ he said, alleging that many lions have perished to diseases. Requesting BJP MLAs to take up the matter with the Narendra Modi government, Singhar reminded that many contempt petitions have been filed in the matter.
The minister’s comments have come in the wake of the controversy over release of Narmada waters to Gujarat. MP’s Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA) minister Surendra Baghel had said that MP will not release water because Gujarat was not utilizing it for power generation and there was no proper rehabilitation of the project-affected.