Stating that his department was on full alert, Forest Minister Dinesh Aggarwal said on Sunday that all necessary measures were on place to prevent any poaching and other wildlife crimes during the festival of Holi.
However, wildlife activists here suspected that the poachers too would try their best to capitalise on the festive time to poach wildlife in Uttarakhand. It is worth mentioning here that various gangs of notorious poachers were known to be targeting Uttarakhand periodically, especially due to the healthy population of tigers and leopards in the State.
The State is known to be a hub for supply of leopard pelts and body parts. The Forest department had already issued an alert in the past to ensure the required level of wildlife protection in view of the festivities and the coming lok Sabha elections.
The Forest Minister Dinesh Aggarwal said that officials of the department would ensure that patrolling and other measures were executed to ensure wildlife security during Holi celebrations.
It is pertinent to mention here that though the State Forest department issued alerts and intensified patrolling and other security measures during times considered sensitive, the wildlife activists maintained that regularising such measures would be more effective than periodic alerts.
In spite of the measures taken by the authorities, it was not uncommon for residents of forest fringe settlements to poach wildlife for meat especially on festive occasions. The challenge facing the Forest department in Uttarakhand is to ensure the desired level of wildlife security during the coming lok Sabha elections as the focus of the State machinery is expected to be on ensuring the conduct of elections without a hitch.