Mumbai: MIAL's solar lamp donation draws flak for showing leopards in bad light

When the management of Mumbai Airport distributed free solar lamps in a tribal hamlet in Sanjay Gandhi National Park SGNP they hardly expected to draw flak for the initiative undertaken with the intention of bringing light to the neglected tribal communityMIAL issued a press release saying the lanterns would help locals fend off night attacks from leopards in the national park Representation picThinkstockHowever the move backfired and drew criticism from environmentalists who claim that the press release announcing the initiative had projected leopards in bad light The press release in question was issued by GVK CSIA the company that manages Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd MIALAnnouncing that 100 solarpowered LED lanterns had been presented to the tribal community on May 26 the statement goes on to say lsquoThe LED lamps will also help the tribals fend off the threat from big cats such as leopards who literally make a killing of the livestock and human life in such areas due to the darknessrsquoWhile wildlife experts and environmentalists are happy that the tribals mdash largely deprived of electricity mdash will finally have a source of light they are of the opinion that the press statement unnecessarily paints leopards as the villain MIAL should have used the term mananimal conflict instead the experts addedAnand Pendharkar president of the NGO Sprouts praised the company for distributing LED lights that will help the tribals in their daily activities such as cooking cleaning and studying in case of the children He also agreed that the lights could prove handy in warding off conflict with many creatures such as snakes scorpions centipedes as well as leopards especially when attending to naturersquos call during the later hours of the nightHowever he emphasised ldquoI would like to point out that I think the statement lsquoleopards are literally making a killing of the livestock and human life in such areas due to the darknessrsquo is completely misleading as that seems to indicate that the prime diet of the leopards in SGNP is livestock and human beings It is one thing to want to support tribals but one needs to realise that this is a national park and the right of way and the right to hunt should be to the animalsrdquoThis was echoed by Anish Andheria the president of the Wildlife Conservation Trust who said ldquoThe statement has not been framed correctly Firstly not all those who live inside SGNP are tribals They should have said that the LED lamps will help the forest dwellers illuminate the immediate vicinity of their homes dissuading leopards and other wild animals from entering these areas This in turn is likely to reduce the probability of mananimal conflictrdquoMIAL respondsAn MIAL spokesperson told midday ldquoThe solar lanterns have been distributed to tribals living in the Tumnipada area of SGNP where there is frequent movement of leopards which consequently poses a potential threat to the tribals at night Our intention is to ensure that these tribals safeguard their life and their livestock and these solar lanterns will help them in this endeavourrdquo