MF AHMAD
Daltonganj, Dec 30: An Ex BJP MLA from Garhwa Girinath Singh has offered to assist the forest administration to hunt the ‘man-eating’ leopard if and when the state chief wildlife warden permits in writing for its hunting and his offer to hunt is accepted by the concerned authorities.
Coming from an erstwhile estate called Ranka estate in Garhwa district, Girinath Singh has been a hunter in his younger days when India had not banned hunting, said sources.
Notably, section 11 (1) (a) of the wildlife protection act 1972 gives the power and authority to only the chief wildlife warden of the tiger reserve of the state to permit ‘any person’ to hunt a man-eater schedule 1 animal.
The permit to hunt a man-eating animal is to come in writing with reasons cited for giving such a permit by the chief wildlife warden of the tiger reserve state.
The permit to ‘any person’ to hunt is given so that the life-threatening animal should be silenced before it wreaks more havoc with human lives and cattle wealth.
Sources said the veteran politician also has assured the Garhwa district forest administration of hunting the man-eater leopard if only such a permit to hunt it comes in writing from the state chief wildlife warden.
The Conservator of forest Garhwa Dileep Kumar Yadav IFS has confirmed to have received such an offer from the veteran politician.
Speaking to lagatar24.com, the conservator of forest Yadav said, “The ex MLA on his own has offered to join hands with us in the matter of dealing with the leopard which has so far two episodes of killing human and one episode of killing and eating both. We wait for the final permit to come from the chief wildlife warden of Jharkhand.”
Sources said the Garhwa forest administration has come to flak for its tardy and inept handling of the leopard attack, killing and in one instance to date eating of man.
Moreover, there was a massive highway blockade connecting two states Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh on Thursday in protest against the slowness of the tracking of the leopard which has become too dangerous for human life.
The Garhwa forest administration has tried to pull out all the resources which it had to tame the leopard but it has to date not much to prove its labour and pain to the common populace.
They have tried drones, trap cameras, and an automatic cage but were of no use. They formed an advisory committee having members from Zila parishad to keep track of and coordinate with the villagers and the forest officials. A total of 6 to 7 teams in the forest are scouring the jungles for the elusive killer day and night. The team scanned the river and rivulet and discovered pug marks. It is now buying three automatic cages from Meerut.
The principal chief conservator of forest and chief wildlife warden Jharkhand Shashikar Samanta sent in a copy of do’s and don’t from the headquarter asking his officers in Garhwa district to spread it far and wide among the public to keep off the leopard.
The guidelines for declaring an aberrant wild carnivore a man-eater issued by the National Tiger Conservation Authority in 2007 under the signature of the then Inspector General of Forest NTCA Dr Rajesh Gopal clearly states that the option to hunt schedule 1 animal for being its man-eater goes side by side efforts to engage it or tranquillize it but not to wait for engaging and tranquillizing to succeed but to hunt without delay and without any slackness.
The NTCA guidelines ask not to wait till ‘several lives’ are lost to the man-eater animal. It means urgency and urgent response to the situation which unfortunately was missed in the Garhwa leopard case. From December 14 when a boy was half eaten by the leopard till December 29 decree of the man-eater label to this leopard is missing.
The NTCA guidelines have the two words ‘without delay’ and without any ‘slackness’.
An Independent MLA Saryu Roy told Lagatar24.com’s correspondent that he on the last day of the winter session of the Vidhan Sabha had raised this issue of leopard menace and terror in Garhwa wherein the government assured to look into the problem.
Roy said the minister Alamgir Alam also said the government has taken this into cognizance.
Sources said the PTR calls in experts from West Bengal to drive away herds of elephants on the rampage likewise the Garhwa district, forest administration should seek other state’s help having expertise in dealing with aberrant leopards in containing, caging or neutralizing these leopards.
