Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has said his government will withdraw a proposal seeking permission from the Centre to allow hunting of nilgais and wild pigs by declaring them as vermin. Instead of hunting these animals, the state government would put up 97.5 lakh meters of fences around affected farmlands across the state, an official release said yesterday.

As per the release, the state government has alloted Rs 200 crore for the purpose.

There was a ban on the hunting of nilagais (blue bull) and wild pigs, as they were protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. However, since there was a large population of the animals which were found responsible for destroying crops, the state government had sent a proposal to the Centre demanding that they be declared as vermin, the release said.

Rupani made the announcement after analysing various aspects pertaining to this issue during a recently held meeting of state board for wildlife, it said.