Mike Pandey: A very crucial species is being lost right before our eyes.

Three – time Green Oscar winner and internationally-acckauned ebvuribnebt abd wukdkufe fukn-maker Mike Pandey has been crusading for vultures – which are hurtling towards extinction – after forcing a change in policy and perception about the endangered shark whales and horseshoe crabs through his powerful documentaries. His latest film The Vanishing Vultures, part of the “Earth Matters” programme (Classics Series of Doordarshan), is a strong plea for an immediate ban on diclofenac, a painkiller given to domestic cattle which is the prime killer of vultures. He is troubled that the ban has not yet been implemented despite a directive from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a year ago that the drug must be phased out in six months. In an interview with Deccan Herald Pandey talks about how the extinction of vultures will harm the world. Excerpts:

Whenever you have made a film, it has led to some change in policy or outlook. Why did you choose this subject?

            The Prime Minister’s directive on March 17, 2005, said that since scientists have been able to pin down diclofenac as the killer of vultures, it must be phased out in six months. That was a great move but even that deadline, diclofenac is still  available. The tragic part is 

that the ministries involved are still pondering over the matter to untangle the knots that they have tied themselves in … But by the time they undo the knots, the vulture will disappear forever. A very crucial species is being lost right before our eyes. What purpose is education serving if people in places of power, intelligent human beings, do not actually apply their minds to the matter on hand? There are substitutes available for diclofenac. Are there secret agendas that we are unaware of that keeps government agencies from implementing the directive?

How does the film address the issue?

            Our focus is to save the vulture. The film offers solutions. India, Pakistan and Nepal are the worst affected. Today there are about 4,000 vultures left. The situation is really very serious. Laboratory tests have shown uric acid crystals in the visceral remains of the dead vultures.

            What more proof do we need? The Immediate measure is to ban this drug. It’s produced by the West, but not used by the West – it’s banned there. Are we a garbage bin for everything to be dumped on us? What are the Drug Controller General, the Animal Husbandry Department waiting for?

The vulture’s crucial role…?       We have over 500 million cattle head in the country. When they die, in the absence of vultures, they begin to decay, and viruses and bacteria unknown to us may spread. And if they spread, no one will be able to control them. Will we be in a position to control hundreds of viruses about which nothing is known? We don’t want to portray a

gloom-doom scenario, but  we want people to know that if  vultures die out there’s a big impact on the globe. The film is asking for action, and appealing to farmers to stop using diclofenac. The good news is that “Earth Matters” will be dubbed in 15 languages this time. The vultures is a crucial link in the food chain, it is the link between life and death. It takes away the carcass and keeps the earth and environment clean, free of disease. Without it, we will be in serious trouble.

While making the film, what were your experiences?

I shot in Panna, Etawah, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Assam. Some footage is from the previous films. When we started to look for vultures for this film, we did not find many. A vulture lays just one egg in a year. It is the most resilient, powerful and enigmatic life form. No virus or bacteria can kill it. It is the instrument that keeps the earth free from disease and we don’t give it the value it deserves .Unknown to us this nature’s cleaner has been at work in the remotes places. We have to learn to respect nature. This creature is designed for a specific purpose. 

The situation is alarming in Pakistan and Nepal too.

Yes, but this is an issue of global concern. What is very gratifying to note is that the ministry of Environment in Haryana in collaboration with Bombay Natural History Society and UK–based agencies has set up the first vulture conservation centre in Pinkore. A second one is coming up in Buxa. All conservation programmes are very good but they won’t be effective if diclofenac is still available. If it is phased out, it will give the vulture a fighting chance of recovery over a long period.