In view of the rising incidents of human–leopard conflict across Nashik district, an important meeting of the District Tiger Cell Committee was held on Nov 12 under the chairmanship of Superintendent of Police (Rural) Balasaheb Patil and in the presence of Deputy Conservator of Forests (Western Zone, Nashik) Siddhesh Sawardekar.
Speaking at the meeting, Patil said, “The main objective of this meeting is to raise the morale of the field employees and strengthen the coordination between the police and the forest department.”
The meeting was attended by member secretary Ajit Sajne, Divisional Forest Officer (Vigilance) Nashik, Assistant Conservator of Forests Prashant Khairnar, Nilesh Kamble, Kalpana Waghere, Santosh Sonawane, Hemant Ubale, Forest Range Officer Vaibhav Hire, Gawari, Parekar, Velkar, Sumit Nirmal, Sushant Patil, Honorary Wildlife Warden Amit Khare, and police officials, among others.
It was resolved that the administration would take proactive measures to reduce human–wildlife conflict in the district. A series of decisions has been finalised during the meeting.
The police and forest departments will jointly organise mock drills to train field officers and staff in weapons handling. A coordination committee will be established at the taluka level, and regular meetings will be held to ensure effective collaboration. Officials also conducted a detailed review of all reported human–leopard conflict incidents in the district and the actions taken in response. Various proposals submitted by the forest department to the government for managing emergencies were also discussed.
Emphasis was placed on strengthening public awareness and inter-departmental coordination. A comprehensive public awareness campaign will be launched to prevent human–leopard conflict, and forest department field officers will be added to village-level WhatsApp groups managed by the police department for faster communication. Additionally, police officers will provide specialised weapons-handling training to forest staff to enhance field readiness and safety.
