Man-Animal Conflict: Pune Forest Department Wants Nodal Officers For Better Communication During Rescue Operations

Pune, December 30, 2020: Learning from the past operations, the forest department will appointment of nodal officers for inter-departmental coordination during rescue operations for wild animals. It will be helpful to maintain proper communication and speed up the operation, said Sujay Dodal, Chief Conservator of Forest, Pune Division.

In recent times many incidents took place in and around the city area where wild animals like leopards, bison, deer were spotted. The department launched various rescue operations to safeguard these wild animals. In such an operation the department needs support from various other departments like police to control the crowd in areas where the operation is going on, veterinary doctors from the animal husbandry department, fire brigade etc. The forest department also needs support from NGOs. To maintain better communication with all these agencies and departments, the forest department has decided to appoint nodal officers for inter-departmental communication. They will also hold a meeting with other departments and will demand the appointment of nodal officers from their department.

According to officials, such an appointment will help them to deal with emergencies. Also, it will help to speed up the operation. “We are also planning to arrange more training sessions, so that everyone get practical knowledge and experience to handle man-animal conflict situation”, added Dodal.