In Telangana, Sarpanches can now shoot down wild boars: Govt order
The Telangana government gave permission to village sarpanches to allow the hunting of wild pigs (wild boars), which have been causing harm to human life and damaging agriculture and horticultural crops outside the Protected Areas and Reserved Forests.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 26 Jan 2021 2:35 PM GMT
Hyderabad: The Telangana government gave permission to village sarpanches to allow the hunting of wild pigs (wild boars), which have been causing harm to human life and damaging agriculture and horticultural crops outside the Protected Areas and Reserved Forests.The Telangana government gave permission to village sarpanches to allow the hunting of wild pigs (wild boars), which have been causing harm to human life and damaging agriculture and horticultural crops outside the Protected Areas and Reserved Forests.
The state has allowed the sarpanches to take up services of a panel of shooters chosen by the Telangana Forest Department or professional hunters who have a license for possession of firearms. The person identified should be an expert shooter and should own a rifle powerful enough to kill a wild boar. This order, under GO No. 11, came to effect on Tuesday.
According to the GO, the principal chief conservator of forests (HoFF), Telangana State, had submitted a proposal to appoint the gram panchayat sarpanch as the honorary wildlife warden under the Section 4(3) of WLPA, 1972, for the purpose of culling of wild pigs under certain conditions. He had also requested that the chief wildlife warden delegate his powers to the honorary wildlife warden for the same purpose. After careful examination, the government agreed to the proposal.
The GO also stated that the decision to hunt wild pigs is subject to compliance with the procedure. The sarpanch has to take action only on the written complaint of the farmers and no action should be taken without it. After receiving the written complaint, the sarpanch along with the village elders and farmers has to visit the location for investigation, assess the situation, and draw a 'panchanama'. After all these conditions are met and if the need for hunting wild pigs seems important only then a recommendation to that effect shall be mentioned in the panchanama and the sarpanch can issue permission for the hunt.
Care should be taken by the shooters to ensure that no other animal or human being is killed or injured and no human property is destroyed or damaged during the hunt. No wild pigs in the protected areas, reserved forest areas and other government lands shall be hunted.
A copy of the permission given by the sarpanch specifying the number of wild pigs that shall be hunted shall be provided to the forest officials concerned and the disposal of the carcasses will be done after completing the panchnama. It is important that no part of the hunted wild pig such as meat, skin, trophy and so on will be kept for any purpose whatsoever.
The GO also mandated that the FRO should furnish information on the wild pigs killed in the area every month to the district forest officials concerned, who in turn shall submit a report to the chief wildlife warden. The orders also made it clear that the responsibility for casualties and loss, human or property, caused knowingly or unknowingly, in connection with the shooting shall only be on the shooter and the Forest Department shall not be responsible for the same. The orders will be valid for a period of one year from the date of the issue of the order, the GO stated.
