Jaipur: Rajasthan High Court has expressed concern over the continuous decline in population of camels, the state animal of Rajasthan, observing that the “numbers nearly halved after the enactment of the camel protection law”.The court has asked the state govt to file its response explaining the things needed to protect and increase the population of camels in the state by March 29.The matter came up before a division bench comprising Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Vinit Kumar Mathur on March 10 while hearing a suo motu public interest litigation on the declining camel population. A copy of the order was uploaded on Sunday.During the hearing, the court made oral observations that, despite the law enacted for camel protection, the population of the state animal sharply declined. The Bench remarked that the “govt must take the issue seriously and address the situation”.Amicus Curiae Prateek Kasliwal informed the court that the state govt did not file its reply in the matter since July 2022, despite earlier directions issued by the court. “The camel population in the state saw a steep decline over the years. According to the data presented before the court, Rajasthan had around 7.5 lakh camels in 2004, which declined to 3.26 lakh in 2015, the year when the camel protection law was enacted. Within 4 years, the number further dropped to 2.13 lakh, and by 2021 it fell to nearly 1.5 lakh,” Kasliwal informed the court.He also pointed out that after the law’s enactment, the sale of camels in animal fairs was completely banned, which reduced the “economic incentive for livestock owners to rear camels”.HC granted time to the state govt to file its response and posted the matter for further hearing on March 29. The court asked the state govt to file its reply in the matter to explain how the camel population can be increased.
Camel numbers nearly halved in Raj after enactment of protection law: HC | Jaipur News
