By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 23 Feb: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has expressed serious concern over rising incidents of human-wildlife conflict in the state. He today instructed the Forest Secretary and Wildlife Warden to prepare an effective action plan to stop the rising incidents of attacks on humans by leopards and tigers. The Chief Minister said that the department should be kept on alert mode round the clock in the affected areas and a quick response team of trained forest personnel needs to be constituted and sent to the spot immediately on receipt of information.
The CM also directed installation of solar wire-fencing along the borders of the villages and the forests to prevent wild animals from coming into the populated area.
CM Dhami observed that it has been seen for a long time that the Forest Department is becoming helpless in preventing the attacks by wild animals on human beings in different parts of the state. He stressed that a long-term plan be made to prevent such incidents. He also directed deployment of trained veterinarians round the clock in areas prone to human-wildlife conflict. The Chief Minister said the wildlife rescue centres in the state are full of leopards and tigers. Now there is no space to keep other captured wild animals, hence an action plan should be made immediately for this.
It may be recalled that Dhami had held an emergency meeting of top officials last month and instructed the wildlife warden to contact senior officers from the centre and other states so that the leopards and the tigers kept at the rescue centres in the state could be shifted to zoos and the rescue centres in other states. Today, the CM observed that despite these directions issued by him last month, there does not seem to be any progress in this direction yet and sought immediate action.
Dhami said that, in case of an incident of wildlife conflict, the responsibility of law and order at the local level rests with the police and local administration. No negligence will be tolerated in this matter. The Chief Minister also directed the officials to make a plan to provide 100 percent toilets and gas connections in the villages adjacent to the forests so that people do not move to the forests to attend to call of the nature or to collect fuelwood.
