Nagpur: In a major move aimed at speeding up rescue and treatment of injured animals and birds, the State Forest Department has started a Transit Treatment Centre in Nagpur. The centre is among the first of its kind in India.
The Transit Treatment Centre, located at Seminary Hills, was inaugurated by Finance and Forests Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar the other day. “The centre will help in rescue, treatment and release of animals,” a senior state forest department official said. “It will cater to animals from across Vidarbha, but particularly to the requirements of the Nagpur Circle,” the official said, adding that there were plans for a similar centre at nearby Chandrapur.
The Vidarbha region accounts for among the highest forest cover in Maharashtra. The centre will have facilities like a rescue van, operation theatre and X-Ray facilities. The van, which will have the necessary equipment like ropes, traps, ladders and nets to catch injured animals and birds, will help provide them with first aid and transport them to the transit treatment centre for further care.
The official said that the Rs 65 lakh centre will complement the Gorewada Rescue Centre in Nagpur, which is also the site of the proposed international standards zoo. Those animals and birds which are cured after treatment will be released back into the wild while those which are handicapped will be housed in the Gorewada Rescue Centre, which is one of the largest such facilities in India, spread over a 25 hectare area.
