Punjab Forest, Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Nawaz Badar on Saturday called upon raiding teams of wildlife and fisheries departments and constituted at them district level across the province to round up people poaching fish, wild birds and animals.
On the directive of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Badar announced that raiding teams have been constituted that will conduct raids in various government waters and riverine areas of the province and apprehend fishermen indulged in netting of fish without a valid permit.
Punjab Director Fisheries Dr Sikandar Hayat Jehagir Chaudhary has been appointed as provincial head of the teams to monitor their overall performance.
Punjab Wildlife Department has also constituted mobile teams to launch a vigorous campaign against poachers to protect wildlife species.
Badar announced that heavy penalty will be imposed on poachers and criminal cases may also be registered against them, irrespective of their political or social standing.
He added that field officers have been placed on duty and over 30 check posts have been set up in hunting areas in various parts of the province.
Furthermore, he said only limited hunting is allowed through special permits, to preserve the eco-balance, while night hunting and netting of all animals and birds has already been banned in the province.
“Apart from the heavy fines imposed, the guns, ammunition, vehicles and other hunting paraphernalia will also be confiscated from poachers,” he said.
He added that he despite the large scale destruction and indiscriminate hunting, Pakistan still has great variety of wildlife and its preservation is extremely important.
