Another wildlife death in IIT Madras: Deer killed by a speeding vehicle in campus
Another wildlife death in IIT Madras: Deer killed by a speeding vehicle in campus

Another wildlife death in IIT Madras: Deer killed by a speeding vehicle in campus

More than 200 deer have died inside the IIT Madras campus in 2 years.

A fawn, a young deer in its first year, was found dead inside the IIT-Madras campus after a speeding vehicle allegedly hit the animal on Saturday night. Forest officials visited the spot after the institute informed them.  

Antony Rubin, honorary animal welfare officer of Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), told The News Minute, “Around 10:30pm, the fawn was hit by the vehicle and I was informed about the incident by the students of the institute by 11pm. I have been told that the security guards caught the driver of the vehicle which hit the fawn and informed the forest officials immediately.”

However, Antony says that no action has yet been taken against the driver of the vehicle. “Strict action must be taken against the driver as the fawn comes under Schedule-I animal under the Wildlife Protection Act,” said Antony.

This is not the first time such an incident is happening inside the IIT-Madras campus. “Last night’s incident just proves that road accidents have been happening at large. There are no speed-breakers and there are too many speedy vehicles inside the campus,” said Antony Rubin.

Forest officers could not be reached for a comment.       

Antony Rubin had filed an RTI on April 6, 2017, questioning the number of deaths of deer and blackbucks in the campus. "It was quite shocking. 220 deer and 8 blackbucks had died between 2014 and 2016 but nobody has even made a noise about it. As far as cause of deaths are concerned, only one death has been attributed to an accident," he had earlier told TNM.

He had also filed a petition to the National Green Tribunal, in which he had asked for a complete ban on non-recyclable plastics in the IIT campus, shifting of ‘Shaastra’, ‘Saarang’ and other events to outside the campus since they draw a large crowd inside IIT-M.

In the petition marked the State of Tamil Nadu, IIT-M, Greater Chennai Corporation, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and the Tamil Nadu Forest Department, he has also highlighted the “Various negligent human activities including improper disposal of solid waste, speeding vehicles within IIT-M.”

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