26 forest teams to man jungles 24×7

Pilibhit tigers Move comes month after two big cats were killed in absence of vigil cameras

Pilibhit tigers Move comes month after two big cats were killed in absence of vigil cameras

A month after two tigers were killed there,forest officials in Pilibhit have decided to set up hubs in the forest areas and post guards there round the clock. The teams will be supplied eatables and other commodities of daily use there itself.

As many as 26 hubs will be formed in 52 beats across the 720 sq km jungle. A wooden structure of 8×8 feet will be built at 10 feet that will serve as a patrolling hub for the guards. Every team will comprise one forest watcher (plantation),one forest watcher (monsoon),one forest watcher (additional natural regeneration) and a forest guard.

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Every team will be provided a wireless set to stay connected with the control room,torches,and rifles in sensitive areas,Pilibhit Divisional Forest Officer(DFO) V K Singh said,adding they had already built as many as 16 hubs in the forest and all the hubs will be ready by July 1.

Only 20 of these hubs will be given a gun each because of lack of availability of arms. Singh said these will be given to the hubs that are in sensitive areas of the forest.

In the absence of any Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF),it is the forest guards and watcher who are responsible for the safety of tigers in UP tiger reserves. The STPF has specially trained guards for monitoring tiger reserves and protection of tigers from poachers.

This (process of deploying STPF) needs to be expedited by the states. Despite 100 per cent central assistance to four states (Uttar Pradesh,Uttarakhand,Rajasthan and Orissa),the deployment of STPF has not taken place, Union Environment and Forest Jayanthi Natarajan had remarked last month.

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As per the 2010 tiger census,the Pilibhit jungles were home to 36 tigers and 4 cubs. The jungles,which shares its border with Nepal,do not have any cameras for vigil. Singh said the process to install cameras will be initiated after the monsoon.

We will collaborate with the WWF for installing cameras inside Pilibhit forest after the monsoon, Singh said.

Two tigers were found killed in Haripur range of Pilibhit forests on May 24 and 25. According to forest officials,the tigers were poisoned by herdsmen after they killed their buffalo.

Forest officials had registered a case against six herdsmen who allegedly killed the tiger by leaving a poisoned calf in the forest.

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