(IN): An unequal battle ( an India Today report )

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*An unequal battle

 

*Subhash Mishra January 17, 2008

 

The slogans painted on the walls and roadside stalls in Katerniaghat

Wildlife Sanctuary in eastern Uttar Pradesh tell a tragic story. " The forest

is yours, not the Government's, " is the defiant message put up by local

groups who have unleashed a war on forest officials and, more crucially, on

the forests.

 

The protected forests in this area are a major source of what is known as

" green gold, " the valuable timber of saal, sheesham and khair trees.

Inevitably, they, along with the animals who shelter in their shade, have

become prime targets for the ever-ravenous forest mafia.

 

That's not all. The forest reserve is also under threat from gangs of land

sharks with the result that the state's wildlife conservation efforts have

come under unprecedented pressure.

 

For example, the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department has lost control over

nearly 288 sq km of the reserve. This area, worth around Rs 2,663 crore, is

now in the illegal possession of the socalled forest mafia acting in concert

with powerful land sharks who have encroached deep into the forests.

The predictable and tragic result is that felling of valuable trees and

poaching of wild animals, including endangered species like the tiger, have

increased at an alarming rate.

 

For the mafia, the forests of Uttar Pradesh are a prize target. The Terai,

Vindhya and Bundelkhand regions of the state are rich in " green gold " , while

mineral resources dot the Bundelkhand and Vindhya regions. In view of the

growing population, unemployment and escalating prices of timber and

wildlife products in international markets, forests in the state have turned

into sanctuaries for smugglers and mafia.

 

Last December, Special Task Force officials caught four smugglers red-handed

with three tiger and three leopard skins in their possession.

 

Such arrests, however, are rare. The gangs are well-organised and armed with

lethal weapons, modern communication systems and fast vehicles. For forest

department officials, it's an unequal war.

 

Barely 14,000 officials manage 21,833 sq km of forests with half of them

being deployed in the field for conservation work and the other half

employed as office staff. Some range officers, who are supposed to be at the

spearhead of the forest management system, have not been promoted for 27

years.

 

Also, the state government has not been able to fulfil its promise of

providing faster vehicles, modern communication gadgets and more effective

firearms, including AK-47s, for patrol and anti-poaching operations. Forest

guards currently battle the mafia and poachers with outdated 12-bore guns. " I

have no qualms in admitting that we are fighting the mafia with our hands

tied, " says Pinaki Prasad Singh, deputy director of the Dudhwa National

Park, one of the state's best known reserves.

 

" We have been demanding promotions, better communication systems and

weaponry but the government has failed to meet these demands. It reflects

the total lack of seriousness of the state government in wildlife

conservation and forest management, " says Gopal Ojha, president of the Uttar

Pradesh Regional Forest Officers' Association.

 

Singh also laments the discriminatory attitude of the government towards

forest officials who risk their lives in dealing with mafia. " If police

officers kill one dacoit, they are given awards by the President of India

and also by the state. What have we got for killing or arresting notorious

poachers? " he asks. " The police don't cooperate with us. At times, even

criminal cases are registered against us because we expose the police-mafia

nexus. "

The case of divisional forest officer (DFO) Ramesh Pandey, who heads the

Katerniaghat sanctuary, is a pointer to how forest officials are being

targeted by organised criminals.

 

The sanctuary was in a bad shape when Pandey took over three years back.

Soon after, he launched a campaign against the forest mafia and poachers. In

the last three years, Pandey has tackled poachers such as the Babaria gang,

which has links to international smuggling rackets, recovering tiger skin

and bones, and Rs 4 lakh in cash from them.

 

He has also booked powerful criminals like Ashok Gaur and Jung Hindustani— a

self-proclaimed activist who has several cases registered against him under

the Forest and Wildlife Act— recovering forest timber worth Rs 32 lakh from

them. The Wildlife Protection Society of India recognised Pandey's efforts

and rewarded him for his campaign against the poachers.

But some of his seniors and a section of politicians belonging to the

Samajwadi Party and BJP were not so happy. Now criminal cases have been

slapped against Pandey, a complaint under the SC/ST Act lodged and an

aggressive campaign launched against him through locals led by Hindustani,

with malicious slogans painted on walls around the sanctuary.

 

When he had exposed a timber-smuggling racket which led to the suspension of

an additional superintendent of police, the police had launched a

non-cooperation movement against forest officials. " We are basically

compelled to either surrender before the mafia who are gobbling up the

forests or made to run from pillar to post, " rues a forest officer.

 

The list of land-grabbers includes Billy Arjan Singh, who was awarded the

Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan for forest and wildlife conservation, and lives

on the periphery of Dudhwa park in Tiger Haven, a private farm spread over

250 acres. According to K.K. Singh, DFO of North Kheri, Arjan Singh has

grabbed nearly 40 acres of the reserve.

 

Rahul Shukla, an author of wildlife books, has filed a PIL along with social

activist Rajesh Bharti in the high court for eviction of the mafia,

including Arjan Singh, from the land. 90-year-old Singh, however, rebuts all

charges. " The officials and so-called conservationists are telling lies. Why

would I grab land at this age? "

 

The PIL also draws the attention of the government and courts to other

handicaps faced by conservationists. Shukla and Bharti have sought

construction of overbridges for vehicular traffic inside sanctuaries to

allow free movement for wildlife in the forest. The traffic and movement of

trains—30 trains pass through Dudhwa park everyday—is taking a heavy toll on

the animals.

 

On December 5, a full-grown tiger died after being hit by a speeding truck.

" A number of wild animals, including elephants and tigers, are being run

over by trains in and around Dudhwa. So, the state government should either

divert the trains and traffic through some other route or develop

overbridges, " stated Shukla and Bharti in their petition.

 

They have gone to the courts after they felt frustrated by the attitude of

the state authorities towards forest conservation. By the time the courts

finally wake the government up from its slumber, it could well be too late.

 

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