| 4 severed heads of peacock found in a week, Dept unmoved | | National bird in danger in Rajouri | |  ANKIT KESSAR
Early Times Report
RAJOURI, Feb 17: The recent incident of killing of peacocks- the national bird of India in Nowshera Sub Division of Rajouri district has sent a shock wave among the people, who alleged that some group of hunters are active in poaching of this protected bird.
But shockingly despite repeated complaints to the wildlife control office by the locals of village Bareri about the incident in their area, the department has failed to take action against the poachers.
"Around four severed heads of peacocks were found in the village in a week, which created anger among the local residents. Although the national bird has been declared protected due to its poaching but here in the Nowshera, the killing of peacocks has seen spurt. Even the locals chased the hunters but they managed to escape," sources informed.
According to the Indian Forest Act of the year 1972, hunting or killing the National Bird Peacock is liable to the punishment of 5 years imprisonment and the penalty of Rs. 50,000 but here the continuous incidents have exposed the casual approach of the concerned department, which took no action till date against the hunters.
The locals appealed to DDC Rajouri to take note of the matter seriously so that national birds should be saved from the hunters and demanded strict action against such people involved in killing them.
The Wildlife Officer Rajouri Mohd Mushtaq Ahmad, when contacted, expressed his ignorance of the matter and assured that he would inquire about it and will ask the police to lodge FIR. He also hailed the media for highlighting the issue.
Meanwhile, when Wildlife Block Officer Balbir Kumar was contacted, he informed the Early Times that there is a huge shortage of manpower due to which they are unable to take prompt action. "There are five employees in the area and reaching on the spot is difficult," he added. Interestingly, the place where the incident took place was just 6-7 kms from the local Wildlife Control Room. |
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