Betla (Latehar), Santosh Kumar: Jharkhand’s only tiger reserve PTR is facing natural calamity these days. On the other hand, the activism of poachers and forest mafia has also increased a lot. Not only this, to curb these forest criminals, departmental officers and personnel are also facing the brunt of the shortage. Due to lack of sufficient rains last year, where the reservoirs of the forest have dried up, there has been a shortage of water and fodder.
animals reaching residential areas in search of water
The animals of the forest are reaching the residential area wandering in search of water, where there is a strong possibility of hunting them by the pre-existing predators. At the same time, forest smugglers have also become active suddenly. The gang of those who cut the forest has also become active again these days. However, departmental officials claim that a continuous campaign is being run against the poachers and smugglers. Despite this, the forest workers are succeeding in their plan by dodging.
using chainsaw machine
Information is being received that apart from the traditional weapon Tangi, chainsaw machines are also being used indiscriminately to cut down the precious trees of the forest. Smugglers are entering the forest these days with this machine fitted with a motor and within minutes trees are being cut and wood is being transported to the destination by bike or cycle.
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Green trees are cut on the pretext of firewood
Most of the people of about 200 villages of Palamu Tiger Reserve need dry wood as fuel to burn the stove. Thousands of people enter the forest to collect firewood. In the forest, on the pretext of cutting dry wood, people cut green trees and leave them in the forest for a few days. Later again these woods are brought home from the forest by calling them dry woods. In this way many trees are cut every day.
Tracker guards do other work instead of saving the forest
The number of rangers, foresters, forest guards and tracker guards in different forest areas of PTR is not sufficient. Due to less manpower, instead of saving wild animals, tracker guards are employed in other works. More than 72 tracker guards are working in Betla alone. Half of them tracker guards have been deployed in other works including the campus of Betla National Park. For this reason the security of the forest is dependent on some tracker guards. There are also many elders among them who are not able to do full duty in the forest. Not only this, due to non-payment of wages to the tracker guards on time, their enthusiasm to work is also seen less.
Cattle depend on PTR for fodder
There are more than one and a half lakh cattle in the area of Palamu Tiger Reserve. Most of these cattle are left in the PTR forest for grazing. Because of this, the cattle of the village eat the food provided by the wild animals. Due to lack of rain, there has been a shortage of fodder. That’s why cattle are entering the forest for fodder.
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hunting dogs are also active
These days hunting dogs have also become active. Dogs in the number of four to five enter the forest by forming a herd and kill deer and other wild animals on sight. Three days ago a deer was killed by dogs near the Betla Park gate. On Thursday too, a deer was hunted by dogs. He was saved by the forest workers, but later he died.
Raids being done to curb forest crime: Kumar Ashutosh
In this regard, Kumar Ashutosh, the area director of PTR, said that there is no shortage in the provision of fodder water for wild animals. In many places, water is being transported to the pond through the solar system. According to the resources available, the department is fully alert in the protection of wild animals. Continuous raid campaign is being conducted to curb forest criminals.
