Adilabad Forest Dept hands over list of sharpshooters to panchayat officials

ADILABAD: Adilabad Conservator of Forest and Field Director of Kawal Tiger Reserve CP Vinod Kumar, on Monday, handed over a list of 30 licenced sharpshooters, along with their contact details, to Panchayat Department officials. This was done as the State government’s recent order has invested the powers of wildlife wardens on sarpanches to take decision on shooting wild boars which cause damage to crops.

According to sources, all the shooters belong to Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts. As per the GO, any farmer facing crop damage due to wild boar menace could submit a written complaint to the local sarpanch and if the sarpanch finds the plaint to be genuine, a Panchanama would be drawn permitting the hunting of the wild boar. The copy of the order has to be forwarded to forest authorities.

All the sharpshooters mentioned in the list have a licenced firearm and are experts in culling wild boars. The carcasses will be buried in the presence of forest officials. Speaking to Express, Vinod Kumar said that the contact details of sharpshooters were handed over to the Panchayat Department officials so that the sarpanches could utilise their services, if necessary.The order has delegated these powers to sarpanches for a period of one year.