Village to be protected against falling stones, says DFO

CHITRAL, Sept 22: The District Forest Officer (wildlife) Chitral, Imtiaz Hussain, on Sunday confirmed that a mother of four was killed after stones dislodged by herds of markhors hit her in the Boryough village of the Garam Chashma valley. Talking to ChitralToday on phone, the DFO said he was sending officials from his department to the village to pay compensation to the family and discuss measures for the protection of the village. He said work on installing the barbed protection wall would also be started soon as such incidents spoiled the image of the department. He said sufficient funds were available with the department as well as the community. In reply to a question, the DFO said due to the conservancy efforts in coordination with the local communities the population of the Kashmiri Markhors had increased to about 1,300 in the Tooshi conservancy area alone. It may be noted taht the community conservancy efforts have led to a phenomenal increase in the population of wildlife in Chitral and also brought dividends to the local people. But in many villages at the foot of the conservancy areas, the rising population of wildlife, especially Kashmiri markhors, has put the lives of the residents at risk. People in many villagers have also complained about wild animals straying into the populated areas. In the latest incident, a mother of four was killed after falling stones dislodged by herds of markhors from the mountain falling in the Tooshi conservancy area hit her in the head]]>