'Form committees first, then update people’s biodiversity registers'
In a petition to TNBB and National Biodiversity Authority, 38 environment activists and youth leaders opined that preparing PBR in a hasty and short amount of time is a waste of resources and time.
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CHENNAI: As the Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Board (TNBB) has initiated measures to update People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBR) by appointing college students as interns, youth groups in the State have pointed out that Biodiversity Management Committees, which should prepare the registers as per Biological Diversity Rules 2004, are not functional in several local bodies.
In a petition to TNBB and National Biodiversity Authority, 38 environment activists and youth leaders opined that preparing PBR in a hasty and short amount of time is a waste of resources and time.
“Data collected and processed arbitrarily in a short period of time by inexperienced students does not serve the purpose of the biodiversity act,” they said. “PBR is an official document that contains detailed information on locally available bio-resources, geography and demographics of a particular area or village. Biodiversity Management Committees should prepare PBR and have local residents as its members.”
Citing RTI replies received from several local bodies, activists pointed out a widespread non-compliance with the legal requirement on the formation of Biodiversity Management Committees. According to the RTI replies, PBR was not prepared earlier in any of the committees and even the process of formulating one has not begun.
Of the 36 local bodies, each in 36 districts, only 26 local bodies responded to RTI applications. The replies revealed that 11 out of 26 local bodies do not have committees and none of the 26 local bodies have started the process of preparing PBR.
Shockingly, Killai town panchayat in Cuddalore, in which Pichavaram Mangrove falls under, does not have a committee. According to a reply received from the Dindigul Corporation, they have not received any directions about forming a committee indicating that officials were not even aware about the committees.
Activists also urged TNBB to reconsider its announcement to update the PBR since there were no committees formed and no proper PBR in the local governments.
“The Tamil Nadu government should direct the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department and Municipal Administration and Water Supply department to send intimation quickly to form committees,” they demanded.