Forest Minister honours Fatehabad activist with 'Vanya Jeev Mitra' title

Fatehabad-based wildlife and animal rights activist Vinod Kadwasra has been conferred with the title of ‘Vanya Jeev Mitra’ by Union Forest Minister Bhupender Yadav.

The honour was conferred on him during Wildlife Protection Week, celebrated recently by the Haryana Government.

Kadwasra, a resident of Badopal village in Fatehabad district, was presented a certificate of recognition at a ceremony held in this regard in Manesar on October 2.

Kadwasra has been working for the long-term conservation of wildlife for over fifteen years.

Thanks to his efforts, the number of wildlife reserve areas in the state has increased from 13 to 19.

The activist has also played a key role in getting barbed wire fencing and muzzle-loaded guns banned in the state. Kadwasra said, as a result of his and his team’s efforts, the state would soon get its first wildlife treatment centre at Badopal village, in memory of Mahant Swami Rajendranand Ji Maharaj.

Among his notable achievements is the protection of a deer-inhabited area in Badopal village, which had been acquired for a residential colony.

He fought a long legal battle in the Environment Court in Kurukshetra, and later in the National Green Tribunal (NGT); Delhi High Court; Punjab and Haryana High Court; and even the Supreme Court for

safeguarding the habitat.

Eventually, the government decided to declare the area a reserve for the blackbuck.

He began his activism for wildlife of the region in 2012, when the Union Environment Ministry required a wildlife conservation plan while acquiring land for a nuclear plant in Gorakhpur village of Fatehabad district. He said he came to know about the death of seven deer after the area was fenced off without a conservation plan, which prompted him to begin his efforts to have the parts of the region declared as protected zones.

“So far, six areas have been declared reserves in the Hisar division, and another is expected to be declared a reserve soon,” he said, adding that he had prepared proposals, obtained panchayat consent, drafted project reports, and consistently presented them before the government.

The Wildlife Protection Week event was chaired by Haryana Forest Minister Rao Narbir Singh.

Additional Chief Secretary Sudhir Rajpal; Haryana State Biodiversity Board Chairman Sardar Randeep Singh; Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Head of Forest Force) Vineet Garg; Principal Chief Conservator and Chief Wildlife Warden Vivek Saxena; and Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Subhash Chandra Yadav were among the attendees of the event.