The Commandant of the Para Regimental Training, Brigadier Arjun Seagan, said that 500 to 600 personnel from the NDRF, army, state police, forest officials, and volunteers have been carrying out the rescue operations on Wednesday.
Four firefighters lost their lives and four others sustained serious injuries while battling a fierce blaze in the Binsar forest, Almora district of Uttarakhand, said forest officials.
The drive to radio collar the wild elephant who has been given the name of 'Moti' by locals began on Sunday. 'Moti' roams in the forest alone and had recently destroyed paddy fields and small huts in human settlements close to forest areas, forest official said.
According to the District Forest Officer (DFO), Pirai Sudhan, four people, including two forest officials, were killed in a wild elephant attack at Dhiraimajuli in the Barsala constituency of Sonitpur district.
District administration and forest officials are working to tackle the challenges they were facing in ensuring 100 per cent voting in elephant-dominated areas, fearing elephant attacks and difficult forest terrain.
"Fortune teller Selvaraj and his brother Srinivasan were detained in Panrutti for caging a parrot. Later they were released with a warning," Cuddalore District forest officials said.
The forest officials in Jodhpur have traced the movement of leopard near the Sursagar area. "Efforts are ongoing to tranquilize the large cat. We will capture the big cat soon," an official said.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday summoned officials of the Forest Department on the issue of human-wildlife conflict in the state, said the Chief Minister's Office in a statement.
"We have shown GIS-based block maps of different ranges of Goalpara Forest Division. All the Forest Range Officers of Goalpara Forest Division attended the programme. Approximately, 70 forest officials attended the training. GPS hands-on training was provided to about 15 staff of the Goalpar