A view of Simdega forest



State foresters go the dodo way

A.S.R.P. MUKESH
Ranchi, April 8: They may be at the heart of wildlife conservation, but are a vanishing breed themselves.

A top-heavy forest department brimming with IFS officers has left Jharkhand with a handful of forest guards and range officers — the real custodians of the green corridors.

According to records, 2,072 out of 3,398 posts of forest guards are lying vacant for the last 20 years. The number of vacancies for posts of range officers, foresters and assistant conservators are only marginally better. (see box).

Since its formation in 2000, the thrust in Jharkhand has been on creation of multiple posts in the upper tiers of the department, resulting in a low number of field staff.

Contrary to other states, Jharkhand has created three posts of principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF), five additional principal chief conservator of forests (APCCF), over two dozen chief conservators and several conservators, regional chief conservators and divisional forest officers (DFO).

The departments in other states generally comprise one PCCF, a couple of APCCF and few chief conservators.

On the flip side, Jharkhand boasts of a limited number of forest guards, rangers and foresters, who work under extreme conditions with inadequate infrastructure.

Sources in the forest department’s HRD and personnel wing revealed that a majority of personnel in the lower tiers were set to retire in a year.

“Sadly, a majority of the workforce are now retiring without getting any promotion, in contrast to senior officers,” said a conservator.

In such a scenario, there is little left to wonder at, considering the sorry status of wildlife conservation, maintenance of sanctuaries and monitoring of green corridors in the last two decades.

Be it the crocodile breeding centre at Muta, the overpopulated deer park at Kalamati, a ill maintained Palamau Tiger Reserve or inability to check elephant displacement in Dalma, the manpower crunch at the ground level has had a debilitating effect.

Forest officials pointed out that inclusion of the forest division for implementation of MGNREGS projects was also taking a toll.

“Earlier, social schemes were run and implemented with the help of block development officers, but now are proving to be an extra burden on the foresters,” said a DFO.

“Foresters and range officers are the actual strength of the department. Forget about recruiting, they are not even paid properly,” state wildlife advisory board member D.S. Srivastava said.

Besides wildlife conservation, guards and foresters are also capable of playing a vital role in checking the Naxalite menace in the state.

“Since foresters are familiar with jungles, locals are likely to bond with them more easily than security forces. Filling up of the vacant posts will strengthen the joint forest management task forces,” said a range officer, Ranchi division.

Additional chief secretary A.K. Sarkar, who holds charge of the forest department, said a proposal for reviewing state forest cadre was pending with the Centre.

Not tigers, but claims roar here

Big snub to big cat hub - Conservation benefits elude Palamau Tiger Reserve

A.S.R.P. MUKESH

Caption: Wild neglect: State sits on directive of nodal agency to set up foundation, misses on funds for tigers Ranchi, Dec. 17: Numerous roars, but not even a whimper of action. Jharkhand is a classic example of how government apathy and bureaucratic neglect are ruining Palamau Tiger Reserve. Under the Wildlife Protection Act, it is mandatory for all states with reserves to have a tiger conservation foundation, a conservation plan, a steering committee headed by the chief minister and buffer zones around each reserve to save tigers who stray out of forest. Jharkhand doesn’t have any of the above. Moreover, The Telegraph has learnt that despite several reminders from the Union ministry of forest and environment, the state government has, for two years, been simply sitting on directives from National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to set up a tiger conservation foundation. A state foundation, according to project tiger/project elephant steering committee member D.S. Srivastava, facilitates management of reserves for tigers, conserves biodiversity and initiates ecological uplift by involving people. But most importantly, it removes bottlenecks in transfer of central funds to respective state reserves. “Such a state foundation is empowered to act as an autonomous body and minimise channels of funds flow so that the money meant for tigers can directly reach them. Ironically, no one is concerned about Palamau reserve, one of the oldest in the country,” rued Srivastava. According to NTCA deputy inspector-general of forests S.P. Yadav, under section 38X of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, amended in 2006, all state governments are required to establish reserve specific tiger conservation foundations. Following the central ministry mandate, almost every state has its conservation foundation, except Jharkhand. The lack of a foundation has cost the reserve dear in terms of funds. This year, the reserve is likely to lose a large share of funds out of the Rs 242.31 lakh sanction for 2010-11 from NTCA. According to the letter available with The Telegraph, this August, NTCA released its first installment of Rs 130.616 lakh to Jharkhand. But reserve officials said they did not get a single penny. “Not one, but several directives have been issued to Jharkhand in this regard. Since 2008, we have been writing to Jharkhand every six months but they have a single readymade answer — ‘it’s under process’,” Yadav told The Telegraph over phone from New Delhi. Palamau Tiger Reserve director Paritosh Upadhyay said the department had submitted the proposal for the foundation to the government last year and they too were waiting for its clearance.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101023/jsp/frontpage/story_13090473.jsp

Centre team aghast at Palamau neglect
A.S.R.P. MUKESH

Ranchi, Oct. 22: A national team visiting the Palamau Tiger Reserve has castigated Jharkhand for not being serious about its upkeep, citing stark mismanagement and a severe staff crunch as among the many testimonials to the indifference of successive state governments.

While senior officials of the reserve, including director Paritosh Upadhyay, cited delays in sanctioning funds as the primary reason for all problems, the team, constituted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority of India (NTCA), wasn’t impressed.

“Despite the problems and the hue and cry over financial delays, the lack of sincere attempts to conserve tigers in this region were highly evident,” opined R.L. Singh, the chief wildlife warden of Uttar Pradesh and chairman of the committee that is expected to be in the state till Sunday.

He said the core area of the Palamau reserve had substantial human habitation which was against the law. And although there were relocation plans, Singh maintained, the team found villagers to be unaware of the provisions that were supposed to be explained by the state government.

“We tried to ascertain if the villagers inside the reserve had been told about relocation and their packages. We found hardly anyone is aware about it. Also, we are planning to revise the present package of Rs 10 lakh per family to Rs 10 lakh per adult in the family,” Singh, a former PCCF, said.

The committee chairman pointed out that of 3,200 tigers in the world, India alone had around 1,500 big cats.

“So preserving them is our responsibility. However, there are serious apprehensions and questions about the management of the reserve (Palamau). That is the reason this independent committee has been set up,” he added.

Apart from Singh, the team comprises Prerna Singh Bindra, member national wildlife advisory board; R. Dogra of ICFRI, Dehradun; and K. Malkani of Wildlife Institute of India.

The team is expected to visit Chhattisgarh and Bihar after Jharkhand. It will prepare a comprehensive report by the end of the month and submit it to the ministry.

“The team inspected various planning processes undertaken at the reserve so far to evaluate its implementation and progress,” said Upadhyay, who accompanied the visitors along with S.K. Sharma, the chief conservator of forest, wildlife.

“Some issues like infrastructure and corridor linkages in adjoining forested areas will be the main focus of the visit,” he said, adding that the primary challenges facing the Palamau reserve were funds delays and acute shortage of manpower for maintenance.

“Due to late release of funds, activities like habitat improvement, fire protection, road repair and maintenance and improvement of waterholes, which are crucial for wildlife mpanagement, are not carried out properly,” explained Upadhyay.

A committee member was appalled at the level of state indifference. “Out of 95 vacancies there are only 19 people employed in the reserve. How can one expect to save tigers?” he asked.

Lone rangers

Silent crusader

If Aamir or Salman looses their cellphone it becomes a top story. You can call it an irony or apathy towards them but people like Krishnendu Bose rarely get mentioned in the press. He is one of the few wildlife filmmakers in the country who has been silently trying to address issues of environment and livlihood through his films. Kudos to this Prithvi Ratna awardee.