Ahmedabad
The state government has decided to impose Article-9 of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, under which actor Salman Khan was booked for the case of killing black bucks in Rajasthan
Updated : Jun 20, 2018, 03:05 AM IST
It will be considered equivalent to hunting a lion if anyone is caught harassing, chasing on vehicles or video shooting lions in Gujarat. The state government has decided to impose Article-9 of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, under which actor Salman Khan was booked for the case of killing black bucks in Rajasthan.
Forest minister Ganpatsinh Vasava made this announcement on Tuesday in Gandhinagar as an effort to control the cases of harassing big cats in forests of Gir Asiatic lions sanctuary and national park in Saurashra region. A video of a man had gone viral in which the person was seen teasing a lioness with a hen few days ago.
"A couple of incidents of lion harassment were reported from different places. We have decided to book the offenders under cases of hunting the lion. The person booked shall be liable to face seven years of imprisonment," Vasava said.
"We have also declared 109 sq km of forest area and government held uncultivated land in Amreli and Bhavnagar districts as conservation reserve. With this, forest staff will guard this area and actions under Wildlife Protection Act can be taken against those who harass lions. The area of lions habitat has been included under wild life circle of Junagadh and another division in Amreli district will be created," Vasava added.
The government has also decided to raise new stations and entry gates in this area and wireless network will be developed for communication of forest staff. More lion trackers will be appointed and new recruitment in staff of forest department also will be conducted.