He’s helped save 870 snakes, 1,783 pigeons, around 50 parrots and scores of other animals and challenges anyone to “find the meat of wild animals anywhere along the highway till Vijayawada and Mahabubnagar”.
Meet Mahesh Agarwal, a wildlife activist who is the only non-official in the state to be appointed (last week) by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, AP.
Mahesh moved to the city in 1992 and later joined Bharatiya Prani Mitra Sang, an NGO that takes cares of animals like cows, buffaloes and horses.
Then in 2004, he went on to join another NGO Sahayog, that deals with wild animals. Currently the general secretary of both the NGOs, Mahesh says, “I was shocked to find that people were not aware of the laws regarding wildlife. Even when we caught poachers selling wild animals, officials didn’t know what to do with them and would often let them go.”
“The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, is stringent. Under it, poaching is a non-bailable and non-compoundable offense.”
It’s just been a week at the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and he feels very content. “The best part is that now we not only help save animals, but are also in a position to help put offenders behind bars. There is a kind of peace I feel when I know that at least one animal is safe because of me. And that way I can sleep better at night now,” says Mahesh, who has saved 870 snakes in Hyderabad on Nag Panchami alone.
