news
Field Director Gaurav Chaudhary and Assistant Forest Conservator Fateh Singh Ninama were dismissed for their lack of vigilance and leadership.
Two senior forest officials of Madhya Pradesh have been suspended for alleged negligence in their duties after the death of 10 elephants at the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. Field Director Gaurav Chaudhary and Assistant Forest Conservator Fateh Singh Ninama were dismissed for their lack of vigilance and leadership.
The suspensions follow a number of accusations, such as inadequate supervision of important incidents involving the welfare of elephants in the reserve and slow response times.
Gaurav Chaudhary, the field director, was suspended for not returning from leave after learning of the elephant deaths. Mr. Ninama was charged with being inactive in the face of prior elephant sightings.
Three Tiger Reserve employees were also suspended last year: Forest Guards Kamla Prasad Kol and Pushpendranath Mishra, as well as Officer Shil Sindhu Shrivastava. They had burnt the elephant carcass and remained silent about its discovery.
Only after a wildlife activist filed a formal complaint and a picture of the burning carcass went viral did the issue come to light.
Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav has now formed an elephant task force at the state level.
Establishing “Elephant Friends” in areas that encourage elephant-human coexistence is the goal of this organisation.
Solar fences to safeguard crops and initiatives to engage farmers in alternative livelihoods, like agroforestry, to lessen crop damage are two of the preventive measures that have been announced.
Dr. Yadav emphasised the necessity of developing forests sustainably in order to promote peace between wildlife and nearby communities.
To get support for forest management plans and incorporate best practices from other states that are well-known for managing elephants, the state government has also started talking with the Union Environment Minister.
The Chief Minister acknowledged the gravity of the situation and conveyed his profound concern over the recent deaths in the Umaria district, calling the incident both tragic and avoidable.
Although the complete post-mortem report is still pending, preliminary investigations following an inspection by the State Forest Minister and senior officials ruled out pesticide involvement.
In order to protect crops and lessen conflict between humans and animals, Dr. Yadav has instructed the forest department to map agricultural areas and put safety measures in place, such as solar fencing.
Officials will travel to Karnataka, Kerala, and Assam—states renowned for their sizable elephant populations and effective conservation strategies—to enhance elephant management in Madhya Pradesh. Insights into sustainable management techniques that could be implemented in Bandhavgarh and other regions where elephants now permanently reside are the goal of these study tours.
The government has increased support for impacted families from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 25 lakh, a significant increase in compensation for human casualties resulting from encounters with elephants. In order to maintain surveillance and stop similar incidents in the future, lone elephants that break away from their herds will be radio-tagged.