HARYANA PLAN TO CURB POACHING

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Haryana's game to get poachers

 

GAUTAM DHEER

 

Chandigarh, May 11: With over 600 cases of poaching detected every

year in Haryana, the State Government is now considering an

incentive-based plan to nab poachers. The Haryana Forest and Wildlife

Department has proposed incentives including cash to people who are

willing to provide information on incidents of poaching in the state.

 

The idea behind the plan is to ensure maximum participation of the

people and flow of information from various sources to check poaching

in Haryana's scarce forest reserve. The attempt is also to build up an

information resource on such activities in the state so that a focused

action plan to check poaching can be evolved, based on specific

inputs. The proposal has made it to Haryana's draft forest policy,

being prepared for the first time in the state. The draft policy,

sources said, has been sent to the Government for consideration. So

far there's no practice of reward to check poaching in the state. The

anti-poaching plans also include setting up of special teams and

increased surveillance to curb such crime in the state.

 

 

 

The draft forest policy of Haryana also makes provisions for

Panchayats to reserve a part of the earning generated by way of

felling trees for renewing the tree cover. ''Panchayats earn a lot of

money by felling trees that are planted on Panchayat land and

maintained by the Forest Department for at least three years,'' said

an official, adding that the provision would bind Panchayats to take

initiatives towards renewing tree cover in their area. Haryana

currently has a tree cover of barely 6.6 per cent, out of which 3.5

per cent is forest land.

 

The thrust of Haryana's draft forest policy, officials say, is

essentially on agro-forestry. The state presently has just three per

cent of its area under agro-forestry. Sources said a proposal to set

up a large scale mandi for agro-forestry trade also forms a part of

the draft. Chief Wildlife Warden of Haryana R D Jakati, when contacted

by The Indian Express, refused to comment on the draft forest policy,

saying it was yet to be approved.