Srinagar, May 24: The Forest Minister Mian Altaf on Tuesday said that   Government is contemplating to set up a zoo in Srinagar for which suitable land is being identified.

 An official spokesman said the Minister while chairing a high level meeting of Forest, Wildlife, Forest Protection Force and other allied departments here said, “The zoo will be set up in natural ambience where all kinds of animals and birds would be kept for attraction of public as well as tourists.”

 The meeting, according to the spokesman, discussed the steps being taken for conservation of Kashmiri Hangul and Markhore in the State.

 “The meeting was informed that there are 218 Hangul available in Dachigam and its adjoining areas at present as per census 2011, which shows marginal rise in the population of Hangul,” he said. 

 “The Minister revealed that the Department of Wildlife Protection in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has been regularly monitoring the Hangul population in Dachigam National Park and its adjoining areas since 2004,” the spokesman said. “The census report conducted through Wild Life Institute of India, Dehradun, has indicated rise in the population.”

 The Minister, spokesman said, was informed that Wildlife Department had simultaneously started survey of Hangul all over Kashmir Valley apart from Dachigam in collaboration with Wildlife Trust of India, New Delhi. The survey would indicate the distribution trends of Hangul population in its natural relic habitats.

 “The construction work of Conservation Breeding Centres for Hangul at Shikargah-Tral and Darwudri-Mamar has been started with the financial assistance from Central Zoo Authority,” the spokesman quoted Mian Altaf as having said. 

 The Minister said that Markhore Conservation Breeding Centre would be set up at Hirpora in Shopian along historical Mughal Road for which a proposal had been sent to Central Zoo Authority (CZA) for approval.

 While reviewing the progress of implementation on Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) programme, the Minister, according to the spokesman said, Rs 2.73 crores had already been released for seven projects in JK out of which Rs 14.53 lakhs have been incurred so far. The work on this approved programme is going on satisfactorily.

 Mian Altaf also released a journal titled ‘monitoring of Hanugul In Dachigam landscape 2011’ brought out by Department of Wildlife Protection.

 Besides Commissioner/Secretary Forests Shantmanu, Chief Wildlife Warden J&K A K Singh, Chief Conservator of Forests, Eco Tourism Deepak Sharma, Regional Wildlife Warden Hafeezullah Sidiqui, Wildlife Warden (Central) Rashid Naqash, Wildlife Warden (North) Rouf Zargar, Wildlife Warden (Shopian) Intizar Suhail, Wildlife Warden (Wetland) G A Lone and other senior officers of concerned departments were also present in the meeting.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 24 May 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 24 May 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 25 May 2011 00:00:00 IST