Haridwar (Uttarakhand): A red alert has been issued at the Rajaji Tiger Reserve in Haridwar of Uttarakhand ahead of Christmas and New Year celebrations. Along with this, orders have been issued for 24-hour patrolling in all the ranges of the park. Forest department personnel have been deployed in Ganga coastal and densely populated areas and orders for daily monitoring in all ranges have been issued.
This campaign was launched in the Chilla range of the park on Friday following instructions from the park department. Several teams with domesticated elephants have started patrolling led by Chilla range officers in Mundhal and Ghasiram sections. Along with this, a route map has been prepared for the entire month. Many additional teams have been formed regarding this campaign.
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Chilla Range Officer Shailesh Ghildiyal said, "Criminal incidents increase in the forest area during the New Year. In view of this, a red alert has been declared in the entire Rajaji Tiger Reserve Park and not only during the daytime, but also during the night. Hence, patrolling has been started in all ranges of Rajaji Tiger Reserve from Friday and patrolling has been intensified in sensitive areas." Kehkasha Naseem, Deputy Director of Rajaji Tiger Reserve, said, "A large number of tourists visit Rajaji Tiger Reserve and its nearby resorts during the Christmas and New Year holidays. Taking advantage of this crowd, hunters also try to enter the forest. Therefore, a red alert has been issued."
