Kathmandu, October 19

Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Shankar Prasad Bhandari has issued a 29-point directive to subordinate offices under the ministry.

Making public his instructions to subordinate offices amid a programme today, Minister Bhandari said he had directed the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation to fit leopards lurking in the Kathmandu Valley with radio collars and release them into the jungles.

He also directed the department to buy three ambulances for rescue, treatment and management of animals.

He instructed the DNPWC to set up a Rescue Centre, Primary Health Care Centre and Information Centre to prevent human-animal conflict. The department has also been given 15 days to find a location to establish a Wildlife Rescue Centre.

Similarly, instructions were issued to the Department of Forest to set up an Electric Tracking System to monitor stock and transport of timber.

Minister Bhandari also directed the Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management to set up an immediate fund for disaster preparedness within 21 days. He asked the department to submit a detailed account of wildlife species gifted to various countries by the Biodiversity and Environment Division.

The minister appointed Bijaya Raj Poudyal as Director General at the Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management and Krishna Prasad Acharya as Director General at the Department of Forest last month. Before the appointment Poudyal was chief of Biodiversity and Environment Division at the ministry and Acharya was the DG at the DNPWC.

With the appointment of new DGs at both departments, the ministry has transferred Ganesh Jha as regional director of Central Regional Forest Directorate Hetauda. He was the Deputy Director General at the Department of Forest.

Minister Bhandari is preparing to appoint Man Bahadur Khadka as the director general at the National Park and Wildlife Conservation Department.