Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan directed the forest officials to frame a strategy to control menace of wild elephants and take effective steps to create awareness in rural populace in the affected districts including Shahdol.
Chouhan issued the direction during his address to the 22nd meeting of Madhya Pradesh State Wildlife Board.
State Forest Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah, Chief Secretary Iqbal Singh Bains, Principal Secretary Forest Ashok Varnwal, Principal Secretary Tribal Affairs Pallavi Jain Govil, the forest department officials and members of State Wildlife Board attended the meeting held at the Secretariat, Bhopal.
The movement of a group of 9 wild elephants in district panchayat Jaisinghnagar was seen on April 4, 2022 in the forests of Chitraon village of Masiyari beat, Chhattisgarh, Janakpur, the district administration alerted the villagers and advised not to go in the forest alone and in the night. Despite of it, a couple husband and wife resident of village Chitrawan went to collecto Mahua in the forest on April 5, 2022 were crushed to death by the elephants.
The elephants keep their movement in the forests area of Shahdol and reached village Bansa where a couple husband and wife of village Bansa and one woman of village Naugai went to collect Mahua were killed on April 6, 2022.
Chouhan said the environment and protection of gharial (alligators) should be given top priority in Son Gharial Sanctuary.
The local residents ensure that no harm is caused to the gharial while they mine sand in river Son for their livelihood.
He directed to use the latest technology to control fire in forest areas. He said it is necessary to adopt a rescue strategy while taking the causes of the fire seriously.
Chouhan directed the authorities to hold prior discussion with the public representatives of the area on issue of notifying the reserved forests as sanctuary in Sagar district and Ratapani Sanctuary as Ratapani Tiger Reserve.
The chief minister also directed to complete the restoration of African cheetahs in Kuno National Park at the earliest. Chief Minister Shri Chouhan stated the need to be more vigilant for the protection of tigers.
