The Centre has asked the Fadnavis government to probe if there was any kind of negligence on the part of the forest department personnel, in the case involving the death of four tiger cubs in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra.
Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest Prakash Javadekar has also asked the state to ascertain as to why the forest department officials reached the spot four hours after the information was received.
On Sunday, forest officials had found two dead cubs near Saoli town in Chandrapur district, while a third was lying in a serious condition. Though the cub was rushed to a hospital for further treatment, it could not be saved. A fourth cub was found dead in a nearby area, after a thorough search.
The cubs were found in territorial jurisdiction of Maharashtra Forest Development Corporation (MFDC) and not in a tiger reserve, the minister said.
"There are two aspects here. One that the tigress gave birth to cubs in non-reserved areas and it was under the jurisdiction of Maharashtra Forest Development Corporation (MFDC). In reserved areas, there is a proper force to deal with such exigencies.
"However, this cannot be overlooked on why did the forest department personnel take four hours to reach the spot. They could have given them some milk and saved them. I have directed to inquire the matter," Javadekar said.
He said had the forest officials managed to save the cubs, they could have been brought as per the prescribed standard operating procedures, which has laid down norms for rearing such cubs in such a way that they can be later released in wild.
The Maharashtra government has already ordered a probe into this matter.
The cubs had died reportedly due to starvation. The villagers of Pathri had first detected the carcasses of tiger cubs under Saoli forest range near Gosikhurd canal.
The spot is at least 50 kilometres away from the Tadoba Tiger Sanctuary.
