Centre to consider plea to declare wild boars as vermin

Thiruvananthapuram: The Centre has agreed to leniently consider the state’s request for declaring wild boars as vermin that are destroying the crops in areas adjoining the forests, said forests and wildlife minister A K Saseendran.
The minister on Monday met Union minister for environment, forests and climate change Bhupinder Yadav, and submitted the memorandum by the state in this regard. “The minister has agreed to take a lenient view on the matter. The minister said that it will provide all help within the contours of the wildlife protection act in this matter. The discussions at the level of secretaries will continue and we hope that a favourable decision will evolve in this regard,” Saseendran told TOI.
As a prelude to considering the state’s request, principal secretary (forests and wildlife) Rajesh Kumar Sinha and principal chief conservator of forests and head of forest force P K Keshavan will hold discussions with secretary and the director general of the ministry of environment forests and climate change. Further discussions will be held with the Union minister who is expected to visit the state in the last week of November or the first week of December. The state had approached the Centre in the wake of large-scale destruction of agriculture crops by wild boars, making lives difficult for the farmers in areas near the forests. As per the figures given by the minister in the assembly on October 7 this year, 504 wild boars were shot dead in one-and-a-half months till then.
In his meeting with the Union minister, Saseendran also handed over a detailed project report (DPR) prepared by the state forest department for reducing the human-wildlife conflict. The state plans to implement the project in the next five years, for which it has requested an assistance of Rs 620 crore from the Centre. The proposal has been prepared such that the cost will be borne by the Centre and the state in 60:40 proportion.
Saseendran said that once the Centre provides financial assistance, the project can be completed within the stipulated time. He said that the government is taking steps to ensure adequate food and water to the wildlife inside the forests. He said that for demarcating the forest boundaries using digital methods, the state has sought a financial assistance of Rs 60 crore from the Centre.