PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Jyotirmath
Nanda Devi National Park administration has intensified vigilance after reports of numerous bear attacks have been received. To take stock of things, a meeting of various departments was held on Wednesday chaired by the deputy forest conservator of Nanda Devi National Park, Mahatim Yadav. The meeting discussed in detail human-bear conflicts happening repeatedly with focus on measures to contain the bear menace. All departments were instructed to ensure that bushes were cleared and adequate lighting was arranged along with installing proper waste management within and around their office premises. The municipal corporation was directed to install street lights and launch door-to-door waste collection. The Animal Husbandry department was requested to provide GPS-enabled information on all cow shelters as well as geo-tagging of domesticated cattle. The Agriculture department was requested to provide detailed information on crops and fruits grown on agricultural land while the Tourism department was directed to provide a list of all hotels operating in the town and information on their waste management.
Apart from this, a decision was taken to jointly map up areas with increased activity and identify sensitive hotspots. Emphasis was laid on increasing coordination between the Forest department, police and paramilitary forces to intensify night patrolling.
Moreover, the Health department and hospitals were directed to strengthen the rapid medical response system (Emergency Protocol). It was unanimously agreed that all the departments should make coordinated efforts and run vigorous public awareness campaigns to bring the human-bear conflicts to the minimum.
