CONRAD DIAS
Ranchi, May 3: The construction of Jharkhand’s first wildlife rescue center is almost at its end-stage as a hospital for animals, a godown, and facilities like water and electricity supply have already been completed.
However, the rescue center lacks some of the major amenities such as dedicated veterinarians and a rescue team, a trained workforce, and vehicles with cage facilities.
The construction of the rescue centre began in 2018-19 and around Rs. 8 crores has been spent on the project till now. The department needs to focus on dedicated teams for rescuing animals since that has been an issue in the state.
Former State Wildlife Board member, D.S. Srivastava had earlier said in an interview that the forest department neither has any dedicated rescue team nor cages in the district.
“Two sloth bears were rescued on Saturday evening in Bokaro, but they could be transported to Ranchi only by Sunday afternoon. The Forest department has to struggle a lot during the rescue operation,” he added.
There was a delay in the process because the department lacks cages to transport wild bears.
The Secretary along with the Principal Chief Conservator has taken necessary decisions with regard to having a dedicated rescue team and other major amenities.
The wildlife rescue centre is under construction on an area of 100 acres on the Ormanjhi-Boriyo road, 22 km from Ranchi, and is expected to be completed by 2024. It has been approved by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA).
