Monkey rehabilitation centre is pride of TS: Indrakaran Reddy

Indrakaran Reddy said the rescue and rehabilitation centre was one of the several ideas of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to relocate monkeys to the forests and to see bountiful rainfall.

Nirmal: Minister for Forest and Environment Allola Indrakaran Reddy on Sunday said it was a moment of pride for Telangana to have the first monkey rescue and rehabilitation centre not only in the State but in the entire south India.

The Minister was speaking after inaugurating the Rs 2.25 crore monkey rescue and rehabilitation centre at Gandi Ramanna Harita Vanam on the outskirts of the town.

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Indrakaran Reddy said the rescue and rehabilitation centre was one of the several ideas of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to relocate monkeys to the forests and to see bountiful rainfall. “Sterilization of monkeys would be carried at the facility in a phased manner and the primates would then be released in the forests,” he said.

He said Chandrasekhar Rao believed that human existence dependent on maintaining ecological balance and had accordingly, devised an action plan which was being implemented now. “Steps are being taken to ensure that food is available to wild animals including tigers in the forests. Raising grass to provide feed to herbivores that in turn are prey for carnivores are examples of the food chain,” he said.

The Minister said the green cover in Telangana State was being increased through the massive plantation drive, Telanganaku Harita Haram. Besides, flower, fruit-bearing and medicinal plants are also being widely planted. A slew of measures were taken to conserve wildlife and endangered tigers, he stated, and sought public participation in the green initiative.

Indrakaran Reddy then released white-belled musk deer in a special park created on half an acre of land in Gandi Ramanna Harita Vanam, at a cost of Rs 8 lakh.  The special enclosures will house three male and a female musk deer brought from Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad. Their off-springs will be released in the forests.

The Minister later laid the foundation stone for a children’s park to be created in the same urban forest park at an estimated cost of Rs 2.65 crore. The park will have chain link, gazebo, eco huts and boating facility for recreation of kids. Indrakaran Reddy drove a safari vehicle of the forest department and had tea served in clay cups.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests R Shobha, Field Director to Kawal Tiger Reserve CP Vinod Kumar, Collector Musharraf Ali Farooqui and many other officials were present.

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