Concerned over the fast depleting of elephants and other wild animals in the State, the Odisha Krushak Mahasangha (OKM) has once again urged the State Government to take immediate serious steps for protection of forests and animals from smugglers and poachers, respectively.
For this, the Mahasangha has made some valuable suggestions while asking the Government to take a cue from the Karnataka Government which has created a commando force named Special Tiger Protection Force to guard big cats on the direction of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.
“Elephants and other wild creatures are coming into human habitations to eat crops, and, hence, being killed by affected people. Besides, poachers are killing tuskers to take their tusks. If this trend persists, there will be no animal in the forests in next 10 years. To check this, a special court should be established for quick disposal of wild animal crime cases,” suggested Mahasangha president and former MlA Bibhudhendra Pratap Das.
He said to encourage people to inform about poachers the Government should give cash prizes for poachers ranging between `50,000 to `1 lakh. As there has been sheer dearth of food in jungles for the animals, forests should be protected with a complete restriction on cutting of trees. For this, use of wooden furniture and other materials in private building should be completely banned. Violator households should be punished with disconnection of electricity and imposition of heavy monetary fines. The fines so collected should be given to informers of wood smugglers.
To create food sources, bamboo plantation should be undertaken on 1, 00,000-acrea area at the earliest and ponds be created in forests to provide drinking water to the animals, suggested Das
To avoid railway accident, the Railways should erect boundaries with solar electrification on both sides of the tracks in forest areas. Forest officials should be given police power to counter and nab armed forest mafias, and the latter should be arrested under the NSA, he said.
like Thailand, the Government should cut tusks of elephant time to time as the teeth are not used by jumbos for eating purposes. Deep trenches should be dug to prohibit elephants from entering into human habitations.
Besides, adequate compensation should be given to crop losers and kin of those who are killed by elephants, he said.
“I have been making these suggestions to the Government time and again. This time too I have sent copies of these suggestions to all concerned authorities, including the Chief Secretary and Forests Principal Secretary,” said Das in a statement.