Wild animals on rampage across UP; govt not able to rein them in: Akhilesh

Lucknow, Sep 20 (PTI) Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said wild animal attacks have increased in the state under the BJP government, leading to several deaths.

Speaking to reporters at the party office in Lucknow, Yadav said the crisis is deepening in Bijnor, Pilibhit, Bahraich, Sitapur, Lakhimpur, and several other districts.

In 2024, 60 people died and 220 were injured in wild animal attacks in the state. All of them were from poor families belonging to the Pichchda-Dalit-Adivasi community, he said.

No help was extended to the kin of the victims by the BJP government, Yadav said, adding, such will not be the case when the SP returns to power.

The wild animal attacks are sending farmers and the poor into distress, rendering them unable to cultivate their land and protect their crops from animals, he said.

Yadav said that even the state capital of Lucknow is not safe from wild animals, and blamed tree-cutting on a large scale for the rampage.

"The BJP government claims to have planted 200 crore trees in nine years, but the trees are nowhere to be seen. No trees were planted, yet the entire budget allocated for tree plantation was squandered. Similarly, the river Ganga could not be cleaned, yet the entire budget allocated for cleaning was squandered," Yadav said.

He accused the government of causing enormous damage to the environment, forests, and the Himalayan region, which has led to floods, landslides, and cloudbursts in Uttarakhand, Haryana, and Punjab.

Yadav said Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, the socialists, and Mulayam Singh were the first to raise their voice for the environment and the Himalayas.

"Mountains are being destroyed by blasting with dynamite. Roads are being built. The BJP launches projects to benefit its own people," the SP chief alleged.

Yadav also said that forest land must be protected from land mafias and alleged that the BJP government staged encounters to fleece the public.

"If encounters would improve law and order, how did criminals come here from other states? How are criminals roaming around in Uttar Pradesh? The BJP government has ruined law and order as well as health services," the former chief minister said.

Yadav said the SP was preparing for the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists, a contentious exercise in Bihar's Patna that sent the Opposition up in arms.

"A new voter list will be prepared. We are explaining to our workers and leaders that SIR will be conducted in the future. Party leaders and workers should prepare for it and create BLAs. The party will also provide training to BLAs through its own channels. The Samajwadi Party is educating its workers about the voter list," he said. PTI NAV VN VN