We have registered a case against the accused and investigation is on,” Dehradun divisional forest officer (DFO) Rajiv Dhiman told Mongabay-India. Considering this, the government has declared services of forest staff including patrolling, fire fighting, wildlife, and zoo upkeep as ‘essential’ under the Disaster Management Act,” Badola told Mongabay-India. We have opened a COVID cell for monitoring and other activities linked to the disease,” Sridhar told Mongabay-India. The forest staff in this time of risk is still carrying out patrolling round the clock,” Yadav said. But they have to follow strict instructions for social distancing and wearing the mask,” Savita told Mongabay-India, adding that the department is coordinating efforts electronically.

Source: Huffington Post March 31, 2020 08:26 UTC