Catching giant cat fish lands Uttarakhand villagers in trouble

The excitement of the villagers of Enolo village under the Salt area of Almora district in Kumoan district of Uttarakhand at catching a huge cat fish from the nearby Ramganga river has been dampened following initiation of action against them by the forest department officials under the Wildlife Protection Act.

The huge cat fish weighing 130 kg was caught by the villagers of Enolo village under the Salt Assembly segment of Almora district and it was the talk of the entire area on Monday. The huge cat fish also locally known as “ghouncho” was carried to the village on bamboo sticks. It was for the first time that such a huge cat fish was caught from the river.

The excited villagers got themselves photographed with the huge catch while others clicked selfies and made videos. As the videos and photographs of the huge cat fish become viral on social media, the forest department officials also got alerted.

While the villagers had a feast, a team of forest officials was sent to the village to identify the villagers involved in catching the fish. The forest officials maintained that prior permission to catch fish from the Ram Ganga river was required which was probably not taken.

“We will take action against the people involved under the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act,” said S.R. Prajapati, District Forest Officer of Almora.