Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Nov 19: As the migratory birds have arrived Kashmir, but lack of manpower and equipment are hampering the efforts of the Wildlife Department to keep proper check on poaching incidents in Kashmir.
Thousands of migratory birds start their journey from different parts of the world to Kashmir and are seen flocking in the Dal Lake these days.
Every year, the poaching is going-on at the large scale, but the authorities are making no efforts to stop these killings this season.
Well-placed sources said, the Wild Life Department is ill-equipped to stop the poaching of migratory birds. They said, the authorities were not interested to enhance the infrastructure of the department to keep down increasing number of poaching incidents whose number is increasing every year.
They said, the department is lacking manpower and infrastructure to arrest poachers and stop killing of migratory birds. An official said the department could do very little unless it has proper infrastructure and manpower. "There is lack of man power and inadequate equipment are available with the department, which is the main reason for not curbing killing of migratory birds every year," he said. He also said the Wild Life Department is not well equipped to stop the poaching of birds. He claimed the preservation of migratory birds in the Dal Lake was also the job of other departments, like LAWDA, Revenue and Fisheries. "These departments have the job to preserve the migratory birds in the Dal Lake, but we also handle the poaching incidents there. Our main job is to handle the areas falling under the jurisdiction of the wild life areas," he stated. "Sometimes, we are not able to stop the killing of migratory birds. But, once we receive any information about the poaching, we send our anti-poaching team there. Sometimes, we also hire the boats in the Dal Lake to stop the poaching of the migratory birds," the official said. |
