DOHA: Fifteen devices illegally used to hunt down birds and a truck illegally transporting diesel have been confiscated, the Ministry of Environment has reported.
The bird call whistles were used by hunters to attract the birds by mimicking their sounds and once a large number of birds flock to the devices, they catch and sell them, reported a local Arabic daily.
The ministry has banned the whistles that attract rare species of birds in large numbers which are then sold.
The Environment Protection department said it had also registered several violations over the last few days in an effort to curb land, sea and air pollution and reiterated that the protection of the environment was every one’s responsibility. The ministry said it had referred the violators to the public prosecution.
It also seized a truck carrying diesel without authorisation or licence to transport hazardous materials.
The ministry received complaints from people about environmental abuses and pictures of the violations through its environment complaints application system on iPhones and iPads.
The application sends the message to the department which identifies the sender and the location of the violation through an inbuilt interactive map and sends inspectors to the site. The ministry has urged the people to search for the programme through the Apple store and download it on their iPhones or iPads. The programme can be searched with the words — MOE INSPECTOR.The Peninsula
