Excelsior Correspondent
KATHUA, Apr 20: Minister for Forest, Ecology & Environment, Bali Bhagat today inaugurated a 3-day Training Workshop on Human Wildlife Conflict Mitigation at Wildlife Training Centre, Jasrota.
The workshop has been organized by the Department of Wildlife Protection, J&K in collaboration with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).
During the 3-day training programme as many as 40 field functionaries of different wings of the Forest Department from Jammu Division will be given orientation by the experts of WTI to deal with the man-animal conflicts in the State.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that incidents of man-animal conflicts are increasing in Jammu and Kashmir and it is a big challenge for the department to keep a check on these. He called for effective measures to deal with this sensitive issue and suggested for a coordinated and holistic approach with the involvement of various stakeholders to achieve better results.
He stressed the need for organizing such programmes on regular intervals to train more and more personnel to deal with such incidents. He also suggested for imparting training to the civilians residing at the vulnerable places to deal with the menace. He also stressed the need for educating the masses through the mediums of Radio/TV about the steps initiated by the departments and functioning of the control rooms set up in this regard.
On the issue of monkey menace, the Minister said that reports are pouring from different parts of the State that monkeys are causing great harm to the crops and farmers are facing problems on this account. He called for a strategy to deal with the issue to provide relief to the people and directed for identifying the vulnerable areas that need immediate attention. He asked the concerned to study the measures initiated by other States to deal with the issue.
MLA Kathua, Rajiv Jasrotia stressed the need for involvement of local people in protecting the forests and wildlife. He also sought steps to rejuvenate the forests and steps to promote eco-tourism in the area.
Chief Wildlife Warden, Deepak Khana highlighted the objectives of the training. He said WTI is an expert organization for imparting training on the subject and hoped that the event will help the field functionaries to effectively deal with the issue.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, A.K. Singh, Chairman, J&K Pollution Control Board, Abdul Razzak, Director Social Forestry, A.K. Tikku, Director Environment, Suresh Chug, senior Advisor, Regional Wildlife Warden, Roshan Jaggi, WTI, Jagdish Keshwan and other senior officers of the Department were also present on the occasion.
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