In Public Interest

The Squirrel is in trouble. The future generations might have to be content with pictures of these animals going by the way they are being hunted. In Bangalore alone, more than 10 groups, each consisting of six to 10 members, are learnt to be engaged in trapping them.


This came to light when people from the Animal Rights Fund (ARF), an NGO working for the welfare of animals, spotted one such troupe at Jayanagar in the city. Acting on information given by Praveen and Karthik, residents of Jayanagar, ARF activists Vinay, Vijay and Dr Shivaram rushed to a park on 39th Cross of Jayanagar. They found six members engaged in trapping squirrels. Kiran Kumar, PRO of Animal Rights Fund, said that by the time the activists reached the spot, the troupe had already killed 13 squirrels. “As we tried to catch them, four of them ran away and we succeeded in catching two. They were speaking in Telugu and admitted that they were from Ananthapur in Andhra Pradesh.” During the interrogation, they revealed that more than 10 similar groups were working around the city. The activists seized two traps and a net used to catch and kill squirrels. The group members used a trap in which eatables are placed to lure squirrels. The mechanism is such that as soon as the animal bites the bait, its head gets separated from the body. “The attractive skin of squirrels is used to make dolls and their hair to manufacture paint brushes, which are in great demand all over the world. Squirrels have medicinal value also,” says Kiran.


Killing or ill-treating animals is a serious offence. According to Section 51 of Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, persons guilty of killing or ill-treating animals are liable for punishment of three to seven years imprisonment or penalty up to Rs 10,000 or both penalty and imprisonment.


If people are aware of such illegal acts, animals can be saved for the coming generations. People can inform KRUPA, a 24-hour helpline at 080-22224541, whenever they notice any sort of ill-treatment meted out to animals.

(Deccan Herald, June 9, 2006)

The next time you want to dispose used batteries, floppies and CDs, don’t just throw them in your dustbin. Drop them at specially-designed bins at prime locations such as Forum Mall and Garuda Mall in Bangalore. This is part of a recycling programme initiated by IT solutions company WeP Peripherals in collaboration with Saahas, an NGO.


Bangalore generates about 4,00,000 dry cell batteries and several thousand CDs and floppies every month and they contain toxic material that reach the soil and contaminate groundwater when dumped in landfills. This gets into the food chain and affects the consumer’s health.


Explaining the need for such a programme, WeP corporate social responsibility officer, Vishakha Das said, “There is no dearth of IT companies in Bangalore, but most of them do not use proper recycling techniques to dispose their electronic waste.”


WeP General Manager for Finance and Business Develop-ment, Deepak Chari, said, “We are now extending eco-friendly recycling to other corporates and citizens of Bangalore by enabling widespread collection, safe recovery and disposal of e-waste.” Except for the fasteners, the specially-made bins are a product of re-cycled material too.


The recycling is done by E Parisara, an authorised recycling centre, which follows a systematic method of crushing, shredding and powdering the used electronic material. The “waste” that remains after these processes is harmful to health and instead of throwing it into waste land like most scrap dealers, E Parisara stores them in sealed containers.


Dispose the electronic products in your home in a safe way, and make Bangalore a better place to live in