Patna: The Bihar government on Tuesday said it will launch a drive from this month to cull 'Ghodparas', popularly known as 'Nilgai' (blue bulls) and wild boars in five districts where these animals have been causing widespread damage to crops.
The drive will be launched in the most affected districts of Vaishali, East Champaran, Buxar, Siwan and Samastipur as per the "laid down procedures".
"Officials concerned shall be empowered to cull up to 50 such animals at a time in districts where the problem is grave," a statement issued by the state's Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department said.
The decision to launch a drive to kill 'Ghodparas' and wild boars in the affected areas was taken at a review meeting chaired by state Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Prem Kumar on Tuesday.
Senior officials of the department attended the meeting.
"A strategy has to be prepared before launching a drive to kill Ghodparas and wild boars in the affected areas. Officials of the Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Agriculture and Panchayati Raj departments will jointly prepare a strategy to launch the culling drive in their respective districts. The role of the mukhiyas (village heads) is important in the entire process right from killing the animals to their burial," the statement said.
All village heads will have to engage 11 empanelled professional shooters of the environment department to kill the animals of these two species with utmost caution, it said, adding that almost all districts in the state have been affected by the menace.
According to rough estimates, the total number of Ghodparas in these districts is around 3 lakh, whereas the population of wild boars is around 67,000, a senior official said.
"These two animals move in herds and destroy acres of crops in a day. Farmers sit out all night to protect their ripening crops from Nilgai and wild boars in certain districts in the state. Both Ghodparas (Nilgai) and wild boars are vermin and can be killed but with laid down procedures," he clarified.
Not only crop damage, encounters with Nilgai can also cause road accidents, he said, adding that human lives have been lost due to man-animal conflict, along with loss of crops and valuable property.
The government also gives compensation of Rs 50,000 per hectare to farmers whose crops have been damaged by these two animals, the statement said.