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Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, during a review meeting of the Forest Department at the Secretariat, directed officials to ensure effective efforts at both the departmental and administrative levels to eliminate human-wildlife conflict.
CM Dhami instructed that Forest Department teams must reach the incident site within 30 minutes of receiving information about any such conflict. Responsibility for this should be clearly assigned to the concerned DFOs and Rangers. Immediate financial assistance must be provided to the affected individuals. In view of the rising incidents of human-wildlife conflict in Pauri district, the Chief Minister ordered the immediate removal of the Pauri DFO from his post. The Chief Minister also instructed officials to arrange escort services by the Forest Department and the district administration for schoolchildren in areas severely affected by wildlife. In cases where the sole earning member of a family dies due to human-wildlife conflict, the Forest Department must prepare and present a policy within two weeks to support the livelihood of the affected family and ensure they do not face financial hardship. He further said that all necessary equipment to reduce such conflicts in the districts must be provided at the earliest. The Chief Minister emphasised that the top priority is to protect human lives from wildlife attacks, and therefore, special focus should be placed on adopting new technologies. Permanent solutions should be developed to prevent wild animals from entering populated areas. Sensitive zones should be continuously monitored through surveillance cameras. Forest personnel must maintain constant vigilance and strengthen their communication with local villagers. He also directed that wild bushes around residential areas be cleared through targeted drives, and that women and children be specifically made aware of nearby wildlife. Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal attended the meeting, along with Additional Chief Secretary RK Sudhanshu, Secretaries Shailesh Bagoli, Vinay Shankar Pandey and C Ravishankar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Ranjan Mishra, and Additional Secretary Himanshu Khurana. (ANI)
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