“The existence of peacock is in danger in the Mayur Sanctuary in Beed district due to Gliricidia plants in the sanctuary. Adequate measures will be taken to preserve peacocks in the sanctuary,” assured Maharashtra Forest Minister Ganesh Naik.

He was addressing a review meeting held at Mantralaya in Mumbai on Tuesday to discuss the problems of Ashti, Patoda and Shirur along with the Mayur sanctuary.

Ashti’s MLA Suresh Dhas, Chief Secretary Milind Mhaiskar, Principal Chief Forest Conservator Vivek Khandekar, Deputy Secretary Vivek Housing, Principal Chief Forest Conservator M Shrinivas Rao and other officers were present. Beed’s district collector attended the meeting through video conferencing.

Naik said MLA Dhas and the residents had been demanding for destroying the Gliricidia plants in the sanctuary for a very long period. The Forest Department has studied the issue and will take action in this regard soon. Similarly, trees like banyan, peepal, blueberries, fig, neem and others which are useful for preserving peacocks will be planted, he assured.

Naik said that an equipped sanctuary should be established so that people would get information about the animals in the sanctuary, animal hospitals for injured animals, and funds from employment guarantee schemes for securing the farmers’ crops around the sanctuary area.

Development schemes implemented by the Wildlife Department and Social Forestry Department will be implemented in the Ashti, Patoda and Shirur areas coming under the Ashti Assembly constituency. Discussions about the transfer of the land from the Revenue Department to the Forest Department will be held with the concerned department, Naik said.