In a novel initiative to protect villagers from wild animals at night, the Uttar Pradesh government is installing street lights in sensitive villages surrounding the Dudhwa, Pilibhit, Amangarh and Ranipur tiger reserves.
This effort is being supported by a memorandum of understanding between the state government and Bharat Cares, which is managing the installation of the street lights through its CSR fund.
The street lights are being provided by Signify. Installation work has already begun in the highly sensitive villages near the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, with marking and survey work underway in other areas.
This initiative by the Yogi Adityanath government is expected to significantly reduce conflicts with wild animals entering the villages at night and enhance overall security.
Street lights are being installed in the highly sensitive villages near the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve to address human-wildlife conflicts, particularly with animals such as tigers and leopards.
Divisional Forest Officer at Pilibhit, Manish Singh, stated that this initiative began on August 12, funded by Bharat Cares’ CSR contributions.
“Over 200 street lights have been installed across 50 villages, and the installation of more than 750 additional lights is progressing rapidly,” he said.
Manish Singh further explained that streetlights are being installed in villages like Pandri, Bhairon, Goyal Colony, Mala Colony, Jamunia and Mandari. To date, more than 16 lights have been installed in Mandari, and work in other areas is also progressing fast, he remarked.
LED street lights will be installed in over 60 villages near the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. Additional Chief Forest Conservator Lalit Kumar Verma stated that the company has opted to use solar lights for this project.
Surveys are currently underway in villages such as Udhav Nagar, Bashi, Ashok Nagar, Semri, Dharmapur, Amba, Jhala, Golbojhi, Pachpeda, Khambhari, and Raghunagar.
The company will soon begin survey work in more than 20 additional villages, including Sakrauha, Kamarha, Elha and Sakra, which are also highly sensitive due to human-wildlife conflicts near the Ranipur Tiger Reserve. Following the surveys, installation of the street lights will commence shortly. This initiative aims to prevent wild animals from entering the villages at night and to enhance the safety of the residents.
A survey will be conducted to determine the locations for installing street lights in 20 highly sensitive villages near the Amangarh Tiger Reserve. The villages will include Rehad, Fatehpur Dhara, Rani Nangal, Muraliwala and Jamunwala.
Rajat Singh, senior project associate at Bharat Cares, which is overseeing the street light installation funded by CSR, stated, “An MoU was signed with the UP government last month for this initiative. Under this agreement, LED lights will be installed in over 100 forest villages, with solar lights added as needed. Currently, under the Har Ghar Roshan scheme, lights are being installed in Pilibhit. These lights are being provided by Signify. After completing the marking and survey, installations will proceed in the villages around Amangarh and Dudhwa.”
