SYED BASHARAT
SRINAGAR, May 9: In a rare and sweeping disciplinary action, the Jammu & Kashmir government has blacklisted the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) from all future departmental work, formally accusing the prominent conservation NGO of “negligible field work,” submitting “secondary data” as original research, and failing to deliver a scientific biodiversity plan despite more than three years of extensions and repeated warnings.
The order, a copy of which is in possession of Kashmir Despatch, issued by the Pr. Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden of Jammu & Kashmir, brings to a close a troubled contract awarded in 2022 for the “Biodiversity Assessment, Documentation and Conservation Plan of wild flora and fauna of Tatakuti Wildlife Sanctuary, Kherra and Kullian Conservation Reserves.”
The agreement was signed on July 7, 2022, and the work was meant to be completed within one year, by July 2023. Instead, what followed was a cascade of missed deadlines, ignored communications, unsatisfactory drafts, and finally, a unanimous decision by senior forest officials to ban WTI and recover all money paid.
The file reveals that by February 2024, over seven months past the original deadline, WTI had still not submitted its final report. The Wildlife Warden of the Rajouri-Poonch Division was forced to remind the agency on February 20, 2024, to take immediate action. The first progress report finally arrived via email on March 11, 2024, but scrutiny by the department exposed immediate flaws.
Observations were communicated to WTI on March 14, 2024, asking for revisions. When no response came, another letter was sent on April 11, 2024, noting that no reply had been received regarding the observations made on the first draft.
By June 28, 2024, the Wildlife Warden had lost patience, demanding a preliminary report within ten days and a PowerPoint presentation to be delivered in person along with the team of Junior Research Fellows on July 11, 2024. That deadline, too, yielded no acceptable outcome. On July 24, 2024, the division issued a sharp warning: submit a pre-final draft within thirty days, failing which the office would recommend termination of the agreement and retrieval of the funds already allotted for the services. The first draft of the Tatakuti Wildlife Sanctuary report was finally submitted on September 2, 2024, but the department’s assessment was brutal. In a letter dated September 3, 2024, the Wildlife Warden made pointwise observations and conveyed that the draft was not up to the mark, lacked scientific orientation, and did not adhere to the terms and conditions of the Expression of Interest, or EoI.
Further instructions followed on September 23, 2024, when the Wildlife Warden informed the agency that a PowerPoint presentation had to be given in the office of the Regional Wildlife Warden of Jammu Province on October 3, 2024. On October 18, 2024, an email was received from Dr. Ishwar M Narayanan of WTI requesting an extension of the deadline for submission of revised draft documents to November 10, 2024.
On November 4, 2024, the Wildlife Warden asked the agency to submit details of the research scholars working on the project. Critically, on March 5, 2024 — a separate letter numbered 1794-98 — the Wildlife Warden informed the Executive of WTI that no interim or quarterly report had been submitted to that date, even though ₹5.26 lakh out of the total contract amount of ₹10.70 lakh had already been paid. The timeline for each component of the contract was also reminded, and it was stated that the awardee had clearly not discharged its contractual obligations.
WTI submitted a first draft plan on November 11, 2024. But on December 4, 2024, the Wildlife Warden wrote to Dr. Tanushree Srivastava, Project Head at WTI, detailing the deficiencies and shortcomings in the report and pointing out specific mistakes and omissions. The Wildlife Warden mentioned that WTI had not carried out any study of its own and had merely collected information from scientific papers regarding species occurrence, occupancy, and density.
Furthermore, work had not been conducted on various deliverables. The said draft plan was then discussed before a committee headed by the Regional Wildlife Warden of Jammu on December 13, 2024. The committee examined the draft and made observations on its deficiencies and shortcomings.
On May 5, 2025, the Regional Wildlife Warden of Jammu informed Dr. Tanushree Srivastava of the shortcomings and deficiencies in the work carried out by WTI, noting that if the agency failed to submit the final reports within the mentioned period, the entire EoI project would be cancelled, the amount already paid would be recovered in full, and the security deposit would be forfeited. The Regional Wildlife Warden also reminded WTI to take up the work on priority, as it had already been delayed by more than one and a half years.
On May 20, 2025, the Regional Wildlife Warden issued what was described as a last opportunity, giving WTI until July 15, 2025, to complete the assigned project and directing the agency to submit an undertaking to that effect within two days. The letter explicitly stated that if the undertaking was not received within two days, it would be presumed that WTI had no interest in completing the project, and the procedure for cancellation of the work order would be initiated along with recovery of the advance amount paid.
When WTI failed to respond even to this final warning, the Regional Wildlife Warden wrote again on July 24, 2025, informing Dr. Tanushree Srivastava that WTI had not responded to the letter of May 20, 2025. It was at this point that Dr. Srivastava informed the department that WTI would conduct additional study during August 2025 to collect supplementary data and would submit a revised plan by the first week of October 2025.
On August 13, 2025, the Wildlife Warden Rajouri informed his counterpart in Jammu that the overall quality of the study was unsatisfactory and that the research team had adopted a casual approach toward field surveys and data collection. The letter noted that the lack of systematic methodology and the absence of reliable field data undermined the credibility of the report, and that critical parameters essential for a scientific biodiversity assessment had been completely overlooked or inadequately addressed. It concluded that the WTI team had not followed the guidelines of the EoI.
On August 25, 2025, the Regional Wildlife Warden of Jammu informed Dr. Srivastava that the agency had done nothing to address the comments and observations made by the Wildlife Warden, despite numerous opportunities being provided to complete the project. Nevertheless, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden was pleased to extend the deadline for submission of the final report by forty-five days, from September 8, 2025, to October 25, 2025, in order to allow the study to be completed as per the EoI, supported by intensive field survey with no secondary data allowed. The forty-five-day extension was explicitly described as the last opportunity, and this decision was conveyed to Dr. Srivastava on September 11, 2025.
WTI submitted a revised draft by email on November 3, 2025. But on January 22, 2026, the Wildlife Warden of Rajouri-Poonch Division informed the Regional Wildlife Warden of Jammu that he was not satisfied with the fieldwork or the authenticity of the data submitted by the NGO in the revised draft document. The letter concluded that the Wildlife Management Plan, in its present form, was not recommended for approval. A meeting was then held on June 24, 2026, under the chairmanship of the PCCF and Chief Wildlife Warden of Jammu & Kashmir, to review the revised draft submitted by WTI via email on November 3, 2025. The draft document was examined with regard to the observations raised by the Regional Wildlife Warden of Jammu in two earlier letters dated July 24, 2025, and September 11, 2025. The minutes of that meeting, which were enclosed with the final order, recorded that subsequent to scrutiny of observations and compliances, the members noted the recommendations made by the Wildlife Warden of Rajouri-Poonch Division and the Regional Wildlife Warden of Jammu from time to time.
It was observed that WTI had not responded to the repeated reminders issued by the department. The Wildlife Warden and Regional Wildlife Warden had submitted reports stating that they were not satisfied with the fieldwork of WTI, which was negligible in terms of the period of work and the area covered. Furthermore, they had questioned the authenticity of the data, finding it to be secondary in nature. The minutes noted that WTI had been provided ample opportunity to supplement the draft with actual data and information through necessary fieldwork.
In the light of the above discussions and available records, the members were of the unanimous view that WTI had failed to complete the deliverables as per the EoI despite ample opportunities and extended time, that the draft was bereft of actual data and was not fit for acceptance, that WTI should be blacklisted to avoid any such repetition in the future, and that the amount paid to WTI for the work should be recovered as per the terms and conditions of the EoI and work allotment.
On the basis of negligible fieldwork by WTI, non-compliance despite receiving numerous opportunities and ample extended time, incorrect or poor data in the draft, compilation of information from secondary sources, and failure to meet the terms and conditions of the EoI and work order, the Pr. Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden concluded that the draft document was not fit for acceptance. Hence, WTI was blacklisted and debarred from participation in any work of the department. The final order, numbered WLP/RES/2026-27/105-107 and dated April 29, 2026 — with a typographical reference to 2036 in the document — was copied to the Regional Wildlife Warden of Jammu, the Wildlife Warden of the Rajouri-Poonch Division, and Dr. Tanushree Srivastava, Project Head of the Mountain Ungulate Project at WTI.
The blacklisting means that the Wildlife Trust of India cannot bid for or participate in any future wildlife or forest department work in Jammu & Kashmir. The government has also initiated the recovery of the advance amount paid, and the agency now stands formally debarred. Wildlife Trust of India has not yet issued a public statement on the order. For the Tatakuti Wildlife Sanctuary, nearly four years after the project was supposed to be completed, the sanctuary remains without an approved, science-based conservation plan.
