MF Ahmed, who initially joined the State Forest Service, subsequently joined the Indian Forest Service in 1963 after having served his home State Odisha in various capacities. He was elevated to the post of Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Odisha and, thereafter, chosen for the coveted post of the Inspector General of Forests, Government of India, now designated as Director General of Forest and, finally, had his superannuation in 1996 when he was the Special Secretary in the Union Ministry of Forests and Environment. He was the first Odisha forest officer to join the glorious band of his predecessors commencing with Dr Brandis, the father of Indian Forestry, who became the first Inspector General of Forest of Imperial India in 1864. In an interview to The Pioneer, Ahmed spoke to Sugyan Choudhury at his at Bhubaneswar Nayapalli residence.
There has been a large-scale depletion of forest cover since 1947. Do you agreeIJ Do you think that these denudations of the forest are justifiedIJ
Destruction of forests is inevitable. The population was something in 1947, which has almost been doubled by now in 2015. Again, lands are divided as forestland and non-forestland. In non-forestlands, all human activities take place. There are villages, cities, institutions, factories and the like. With the growth of civilisation and population, there is a large pressure by the people on the Government for lands. Then, no such land is available except the forestland. Hence, forest is the sacrificial goat on the altar of development.
look at the influx of refugees pouring into our country after the Indo-Pak conflict. The Government had to adjust them in the dense forest of Dandakaranya; as a result we lost many valuable forest and rare species of trees. Thus, there have been both centripetal and centrifugal forces on our limited and constant forest sources which are bound to suffer, undergo sacrifice for homosapiens in our welfare State.
Of course, there has been a check on the preservation of forest resources which we name as conservation of forest Act. If any amount of forest land is given to railways, ports and for other public works, the Act envisages that similar amount of land must be pledged to the forest where afforestation works will be undertaken by the State Government. This Forest Conservation Act, in my opinion, should be sacrosanct. There must be a holistic development of the forests.
There has been a merciless and wanton destruction of trees while roads are being developed in our country. In developed countries, the roads are giving way to the trees and not the vice versa. What is your opinionIJ
I must appreciate The Pioneer’s concern for protection of trees and the suggestion of advanced ways towards protection of them. You know our planners ought to have sufficient foresight, far sight while planning for our development. They should have earmarked sufficient places for roads beyond which no destruction of trees or environment would have taken place. It pains me much to say that most of the trees on the Nandankanan-Jayadev Vihar road were planted by me during my tenure. In Cuttack and Bhubaneswar on either side of the road all the perennial trees were mowed down because of development. But I would also agree with you that in Bangalore and in Kolkata, the roads have given way to trees in most places. In Kolkata, uprooted trees were carried on with cranes and planted at suitable places in the same city area to maintain harmony. This is what we should choose to carry out since trees play a pivotal role in maintaining our ecological balance which is a delicate issue dangerous to be ignored.
Do you think that the large-scale destruction of trees has anything to do with the climate change in Odisha and in our countryIJ
If you study the temperature of Bhubaneswar and other various places of our State and the country, you will ultimately come to identify that the problem is due to the loss of trees. It is a complex process. Carbon dioxide is increasing in the atmosphere, groundwater level is dwindling to a lower level day by day so that drinking water availability will be a big threat one day. As a journalist, you must note down from today in your diary that a next world war will be fought for water. Water is such a precious thing, and due to loss of trees and forests, the availability of drinking water will be a threat to humanity one day in this planet of ours.
What is your response to the demand of activists like those from the People for Animals who maintain that there should not be any interference in the jungle to disturb the animal worldIJ
It is a fact that by constant poaching and other anti-jungle activities by miscreants despite surveillance by our officers, the habitats of the jungle are being destroyed. They have to run helter-skelter in such of food resulting in man-animal conflict. For this, the innocent creatures of the jungle are not to be blamed. For this reason of loss of wild habitats, sometimes we see that a large-hearted gentleman like the Royal Bengal Tiger is forced to come out of the jungle and often we find the pachyderms in a group visit the nearby villages and eat away crops. Besides a holistic development of the jungle for a sustainable development, a strict surveillance system is mandatory for growth of the jungle life and the property which will eventually contribute to the human race in general and to the jungle in particular.
What would be your message for the present day and future generation of forest officersIJ
The present day officers are more diligent and sincere. I must congratulate them. They must entirely work for an integrated development of our precious forest reserves without being disturbed by small hiccups. They should bear in their mind the Vedic hymn which glorified our forest --Om Vanaspataye Namah, i.e., our obeisance is to the forest. Our young officers must try to preserve the pristine purity and the grandeur of the jungle and must recite in their hearts the Canto-29 of Chaper-3 of the Bhagvadgita which says, “Common persons need wood for fuel. They will continue to cut trees till the forest is destroyed. But the Muni (wise person) thinks about the importance of forests in relation to nature. He thinks about the balance of natural agencies. He thinks of the relationship of forests and climate.
