On Friday, the UP cabinet decided to restore the Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Bird Sanctuary set up in July 2003 by then BSP-BJP coalition government led by Mayawati. The notification for the sanctuary was cancelled by the Mulayam Singh Yadav government.

The bird sanctuary in Kunda covered 427.07 hectares across Benti, Punemau, Banemau and Shapur ponds along with adjoining land, under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. The land on the banks of Ganga belonged to the forest department. But it was the fiefdom of Raja Bhaiyya, the food and civil supplies minister in the Mulayam government. The fishing contracts fetched him crores of rupees annually.

Today, Mayawati said the cancellation of the notification by the Mulayam government was illegal according to two interim orders of the Supreme Court — made in 1997 and 2000.

The SC orders specifically stated that the notification for setting up bird sanctuaries and national parks cannot be cancelled without obtaining the prior approval of the National Wildlife Board.

RAJA BHAIYYA

The rap sheet

Soon after the installation of the BSP-BJP government in May 2002, trouble began over cabinet berths. Raja Bhaiyya led the dissidence.

* In December 2002, Raja Bhaiyya was arrested. He snapped relations with the BJP and began working for the Samajwadi Party.

* In January 2003, his father Raja Uday Pratap Singh, a history sheeter, charges under Prevention of Terrorism Act was slapped on both. Raja Bhaiyya and his father remained in jail for over a year.