A day after a livelihood package was announced by Government for the forest sector, the State Government on Saturday claimed to have initiated slew of steps for creating more wage employment opportunities in the sector. The matter was discussed at a State-level meeting on ‘Elephant protection and conservation in Odisha’ held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy. Forest and Environment ACS Dr Mona Sharma and Wild Life PCCF Harisankar Upadhaya participated in the discussion.
The Chief Secretary wanted adoption of a ‘focused intervention approach’ for development of elephant habitats. He also wanted establishment of a world-class hospital for wildlife. It was decided to set up the hospital in the Chandka forest with all modern equipments and research facilities. He further directed the department to create more wage-employment opportunities for people by sourcing funds from MGNREGS. It was decided to build three underpasses on NH-55 in Dhenkanal, Redhakhol and Athmallik Forest Divisions this year to save elephants from traffic accidents.
