By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Amid escalating human-wildlife conflicts in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday announced several new initiatives saying his government would set up solar fencing, sensor-based alert systems and sterilization and rehabilitation centres in the hill state to minimize these incidents.
Talking to newspersons in Dehradun, Chief Minister Dhami said the government would develop a security system in all those areas where wild animals like elephants, nilgai, bears, leopards, and monkeys are causing damage to agricultural and horticultural crops and creating havoc for the people. An effective action plan will be implemented to minimize the human-wildlife conflict in a phased and planned manner, he said.
The Chief Minister said to control the population of wild animals such as langurs, monkeys, wild boars, and bears, modern wildlife sterilization centers will be established in each district by the state forest department.
The Chief Minister said rescue and rehabilitation centers will be opened in all districts of the state. For this purpose, a minimum of 10 nali (a unit of land measurement) in the hills and a minimum of 1 acre in the plains will be reserved in the forest.
The Chief Minister said considering the necessity, all these initiatives will be given top priority and a strategy for implementing them will be made within two weeks.
He said an additional amount of ₹ 5 crore will be allocated to the forest department for the availability of resources such as nets, cages, and tranquilizer guns.
Necessary amendments in the wildlife prevention laws would be made, the Chief Minister said adding he has also held discussions with Union Environment and Forests Minister Bhupender Yadav on the issue on Friday.
In the past two months, scores of incidents related to the wildlife-human conflict have been reported from different parts of the state creating havoc among the people. In some vulnerable areas curfew-like situation has developed as schools have also been closed with fear-stricken people keeping themselves indoors during dusk to dawn.