NGO insures anti- poaching watchers, rapid response team

  • | Thursday | 28th March, 2019

On seeing it, we decided to provide insurance for them,” he said. This year, including the RRT members we have insured 149 personnel,” he said.“Last year, an APW was injured when he was driving away an elephant. Last October, Venkatesh a member of the RRT was trampled to death by a tusker while on duty. The forum has paid the insurance for the group personal accident insurance policy schedule through an insurer and handed over the documents to the district forest officer recently. Such incidents have made insuring the personnel even more necessary, he said.The insurance cover for the personnel, which would be for a year, would provide Rs 1lakh for medical coverage in case of accident and Rs 1.5lakh in case of death, said Parthiban.

Coimbatore: One of the most risk-laden jobs is that of the anti-poaching watchers (APWs) and members of the rapid response team (RRT) of the forest department.From monitoring areas where man-animal conflicts are frequent to driving away elephants from human settlements, they risk their lives in the line of duty.Taking all these into account, an environmental forum has come forward to provide insurance to these personnel. Representatives of the forum, Western Ghats Wildlife Conservation Trust, said they have covered 149 forest personnel including APWs and members of the RRT in all forest ranges in the district.President of the forum N Parthiban said while last year the forum insured 141 APWs, this year they have also included the members of the RRT.“Last year, we didn’t have the RRT, so we insured 141 APWs in the seven forests ranges in the district. This year, including the RRT members we have insured 149 personnel,” he said.“Last year, an APW was injured when he was driving away an elephant. On seeing it, we decided to provide insurance for them,” he said. Last October, Venkatesh a member of the RRT was trampled to death by a tusker while on duty. Such incidents have made insuring the personnel even more necessary, he said.The insurance cover for the personnel, which would be for a year, would provide Rs 1lakh for medical coverage in case of accident and Rs 1.5lakh in case of death, said Parthiban. The forum has paid the insurance for the group personal accident insurance policy schedule through an insurer and handed over the documents to the district forest officer recently.

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