UP honours Billy Arjan Singh

HOME

Lucknow: May 7, 2005.
The Uttar Pradesh government today honoured Billy Arjan Singh at a special function held in the Ganna Sansthan auditorium at Lucknow. The well attended ceremony was jointly organized by the UP Forest Department and the WWF-India, to felicitate Billy Arjan Singh on receiving the J. Paul Getty award recently.

Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav was present on the occasion along with Principal Secretary (Forests) the PCCF, the Chief Wildlife Warden, other officers of the state Forest department and the head of WWF-India Ravi Singh.

Speaking on the occasion, Billy said that the Getty award was not just an honour to him, but to the entire country. He said that he had selflessly dedicated his entire life to tiger conservation, and felt that he had now reached that stage in life when he felt he did not have too much time left, but the work he had started was far from over. In view of the current tiger crises in reserves like Sariska, Ranthambore and Panna, he made an impassioned appeal to the state government to focus on wildlife conservation in Dudhwa national park, since it was the only tiger reserve remaining in the state, and the loss of tigers here would be the death knell for the park. He said wildlife conservation could be fortified by the very simple solution of creating a separate wildlife cadre within the forest department, so that officials really committed to the cause of wildlife conservation could be posted there. He exhorted Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav to personally take up the cause of tiger conservation in the state.

In his address, the Chief Minister said that he was genuinely pleased to be present at an occasion when a living legend like Billy was being honoured. He said he did share the concerns on issues raised by Billy, and his government was committed to conservation of wildlife and forests. He regretted the fact that the state was abysmally low in forest cover, which was in the region of 9 %. He said he had received confirmation from his officials that 25 crore trees had been planted in the plantation drive launched by the state government, but it was the responsibility of the officials to ensure their survival.

Referring to Billy's lifelong contribution to the cause of conservation in Dudhwa tiger reserve, Mulayam Singh said that the state government would further honour him by giving him the prestigious 'Yash Bharti' state award. The Chief Minister bluntly told the forest department officials that the best way they could acknowledge Billy's contribution was by fulfilling his wishes. Touching upon a personal chord with Billy, the Chief Minister drew laughter from the gathering when said he was extremely happy to know that Billy had been a wrestler during his earlier days, and confessed that he himself was one before he entered the hurly burly world of politics.

One can only hope that the Chief Minister is able to call upon all his tackling abilities when he seriously wrestles with the problems of tiger conservation in his state.

- Aqeel Farooqi