With Kaziranga security up,poachers shift focus to Orang

Two rhinos were killed in Orang in quick succession last month,the first on August 25 and the second just four days later,prompting the state government to adopt an entirely new approach to tackle the situation.

Two teams of high-level officers,one of them led by PCCF (wildlife) Suresh Chand,visited the Park,about 120 km north-east of Guwahati,in the past four days,reviewing the security arrangement there,and suggesting several new steps to the state government. These included establishment of five more anti-poaching camps in addition to the existing 32,deploying 20 more Home Guards personnel and setting up two floating anti-poaching camps on the Brahmaputra that comprises the most vulnerable southern boundary of the Park.

The state government also set up a coordination committee consisting of the district magistrates and SPs of three districts — Darrang,Sonitpur and Morigaon — in order to spruce up protection of the 62 rhinos that Orang currently has. Another committee comprising local circle officers and police officers had been formed to meet every fortnight to review the situation,sources said.

“Orang needs more attention than it currently gets. Unlike Kaziranga or other national parks in the state,Orang is surrounded by migrants (of East Pakistan and Bangladesh origin) on almost all sides,and human settlement is very dense. These settlers also have a track record of indulging in different crimes,including poaching,” said M C Malakar,former PCCF (wildlife) of Assam.

Malakar,in fact,has suggested the government to create two forest ranges instead of keeping Orang as a single forest range. “Appointment of two range officers will itself make quite an impact. But what is even more important is to intensify patrolling on the Brahmaputra,the most frequented route of the poachers,” Malakar added.

But even as the government decided to induct 20 more Home Guard personnel to strengthen the anti-poaching machinery in Orang,the existing ground position of protection staff in the national park is simply pathetic. While the park has 76 regular guards in addition to 22 fixed-pay personnel and 30 casual staff,most of the 48 Home Guards personnel inducted in Orang in the past one year have already left due to non-payment of salary since April.

Orang National Park,incidentally,also figures in the country’s tiger map,with the last count in 2000,conducted through the pug-mark method,showing 19 big cats there. Poachers,on their part,have targeted tigers too,and currently not more than 15 are expected to exist there. This would at the most include seven adults.