As 2015 draws to an end, some major developments, controversies and issues pertaining to the State Forest Department during the year give cause for satisfaction in some cases but in many instances they present an alarming picture of the future of environment in Uttarakhand.
Notification of tiger reserve status for Rajaji national park was among the welcome developments of 2015. The State Government expects creation of Uttarakhand’s second tiger reserve after Corbett will boost tourism. However, observers point out that change in status alone will not ensure wildlife protection in Rajaji where the ever present threat posed by poachers is exacerbated by habitat fragmentation due to encroachments and constructions.
During the year camera trapping of a snow leopard in the Sunderdhunga valley of Bageshwar district in Kumaon provided the first photographic evidence of the snow leopard in Kumaon region. The department already had photographic evidence of snow leopard presence in the Nanda Devi biosphere reserve and the Gangotri national park- both in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. Based on studies conducted so far officials said that there were strong grounds for believing that about a dozen snow leopards might be present in the higher Himalayas of Uttarakhand. Another major development was the undertaking of the third Nanda Devi national park decadal expedition.
During the 26-day expedition, the 31-member expedition team ascertained the presence of snow leopard, musk deer, Himalayan Tahr, blue sheep, Himalayan black bear, more than 400 plant species including 200 species in bloom and 35 endangered medicinal plants, 152 bird species including endangered ones and 14 raptor species, 40 spider species and 40 butterfly species in the area. Apart from this a wildlife population estimation exercise enhanced with technical aids was conducted for the first time in the middle Himalayan region of Uttarakhand. The year also saw introduction of Centralized Digital Telephonic Call Centre Service “Van Mitra” to enable the public to lodge complaints or raise various forest related issues. Introduced first in the Kumaon region, Van Mitra was later extended to cover the entire state enabling citizens to inform the department on any forest or wildlife related matter, lodge complaints and upload picture and videos of any related incident through the call centre or website.
Human-wildlife conflict was prominent throughout the year in various areas of the State. The year saw at least a dozen human deaths in the human-wildlife conflict while seven tiger deaths from varied causes and a higher number of leopard deaths were also reported. While the State authorities made repeated efforts to facilitate extermination of blue bulls, wild boar and macaques declared pests, the Forest minister recalled that as announced by the chief minister, State Government will pay the cost of bullet to anyone who shoots a wild boar with the department’s permission to exterminate an animal declared pest. A monkey sterilisation centre was also set up at Chidiyapur, Haridwar to start the planned sterilisation drive on macaques while activists stressed that sterilisation was ineffective and may end up exacerbating the human-simian conflict.
The year also saw the department’s questionable and even ecologically detrimental act of germinating about 300 seeds of the Giant Sequoia trees that occur naturally only in California, USA. Officials called it a suitability trial while ecological experts strongly opposed it citing threat to unique Himalayan biodiversity from the alien flora. Serious allegations leveled against the then principal chief conservator of forests SS Sharma were followed up by PFA Uttarakhand releasing copies of additional chief secretary S Raju’s inquiry report regarding the allegations. Raju had stated that a preliminary inquiry of allegations had revealed that Sharma directed officials concerned to consider the cases of wildlife crime accused sympathetically. The report had recommended disciplinary action for violation of All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 appeared appropriate. Sharma retired in 2015 followed by Shrikant Chandola as the PCCF for four months before he too retired after which Veena Sekhri has occupied the post.
