Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday wanted officials to take stringent action on people found poisoning wild animals and asked for the offences to be dealt with strictly. He also told officials to ensure that Revenue officials provided adequate compensation for loss of domestic animals and damage to crop by wild animals.
Chairing the 9 meeting of the State Board for Wildlife, Mr. Reddy asked officials of the Forest department to study proposals for increasing compensation for crop loss in attacks by wild animals.
He said the government had already sanctioned 3,800 additional personnel to strengthen the field administration and the hands of the department in protecting forests, by evolving a suitable strategy. Mr. Reddy said an action plan to address problems in protection of forests was required and said arms and ammunition were being procured, to be given up to the level of Forest Range Officer. Forest Minister Satrucherla Vijayarama Raju and Members of the Board, Husnabad MLA A. Praveen Reddy, Chief Secretary P.K. Mohanty, Special Chief Secretary M. Samuel, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), B.S.S. Reddy, Principal Secretary-School Education, Rajeshwar Tiwari, PCCF (Wildlife), Chief Wildlife Warden A.V. Joseph and others attended the meeting.