Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Md Shahab Uddin has said the government is working tirelessly to conserve the environment and biodiversity. But wild elephants have recently been killed for various reasons in parts of the country, including the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Cox's Bazar, he said, and officials and staff who fail to prevent the killings, or are responsible for them, will face disciplinary action under the rules.

He added that legal action would also continue against those involved in killing wild elephants.

The minister was speaking on Wednesday, 25 November, at a monthly meeting reviewing progress on the ministry's Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the 2020-21 financial year. He chaired the meeting by video conference from his official residence in the capital.

Present were Deputy Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Begum Habibun Nahar; Secretary Ziaul Hasan ndc; Additional Secretary (Administration) Dr Md Billal Hossain; Additional Secretary (Environment) Mahmud Hasan; Additional Secretary (Development) Ahmad Shamim Al Raz; Director General of the Department of Environment Dr AKM Rafique Ahammed; Chief Conservator of Forests Md Amir Hossain Chowdhury; and heads of departments and project directors.

The minister urged the officials concerned to step up awareness programmes to stop people killing wild elephants.

He said everyone must be told that the government gives proper compensation to people who suffer losses because of wild elephants, and that all necessary steps must be taken for the safety of elephants and other wildlife.

Chief Conservator of Forests Amir Hossain Chowdhury said elephant habitats had been destroyed and fragmented by the building of shelters for the Rohingya and by various development projects. The elephants' long-familiar routes had also been lost. As a result, wild elephants stray or try to enter people's paddy fields in search of food, and die after getting caught in electric wires set by local people or in various attacks.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.