We are aware of the brave jawans who guard our borders but we know little about the invisible force that serves under the radar and fights an equally challenging battle in protecting forests, saving wildlife and securing life-sustaining ecosystems
October 18, 2013: Rakesh Sharma, while patrolling Sau Footie, the ‘100-foot-fire-line’ atop a remote steep ridge (a likely spot where khatkas or gin traps are set by poachers) in Corbett Tiger Reserve, was attacked by a tiger. Dev Singh, another daily wager accompanying him, reacted with courage — he hit the animal on the head with his bamboo shaft, and surprised the tiger into dropping his victim and fleeing. Sharma, though still alive, was bleeding profusely and it took over 12 hours to take him to the hospital in Haldwani, where he later succumbed to his injuries. He was a daily wager, getting an abysmally low wage, with no insurance, pension or any such fund that can now aid his family.
October 18, 2013: Over 500 irate villagers from Sasanpeta, went on a rampage and torched the Gahirmatha (Odisha) forest range office, its vehicles and boats after a 62-year-old man was killed by a wild boar. The mob also attacked the forest officials, including the ranger, holding them responsible for the human-wildlife conflict.
September 14, 2013: A group of tribals who had allegedly encroached on forest land hacked a ranger to death at KK Tanda, a village, in Andhra Pradesh’s Nizamabad district, apart from maiming seven forest personnel. Police said the villagers in the tribal area attacked the staff when they went to arrest those who had illegally occupied forestland. Tragically, the forest staff’s vehicle got stuck outside the village. The villagers surrounded their vehicle and threw chilli powder into their eyes before attacking them with boulders and axes.
July 15, 2013: Forest Guard Jitender Kumar Dhiani who was posted at the remote, secluded, water-bound outpost of Gaujera Chowki in Corbett Tiger Reserve, drowned on duty. All that a colleague of his saw from a distance was Dhiani’s raised hands in a mute appeal for help, before he disappeared into the backwaters of the Kalagarh lake. His body was discovered the next day.
As can be seen from these instances (only a representative, and not an exhaustive list), the frontline forest staff face many perils. Their lives are on the line not just from wild animals, who can sometimes be unpredictable and strike when surprised, but mostly from poachers, timber smugglers, mining mafias — and the fury of encroachers and mobs in several situations, particularly those related to human-wildlife conflict.
We are well-aware of the brave jawans who guard our borders, we celebrate them, and honour their courage. Rightly so. Most, however, are ignorant of another, almost invisible army serving mostly under the radar — India’s ‘Green Army’. It fights an equally challenging battle, protecting forests, saving wildlife, securing life-sustaining ecosystems.
The Green Army’s work is no less arduous; and its courage and dedication no less inspiring. Yet, the sacrifices the jawans of this Army makes are rarely recognised. Their work is risky but they have no life insurance, pension, gratuity and medical benefits. They are poorly paid, under-equipped, un-trained and over-worked. They serve in the remotest of forests, and more often than not they are lone sentries guarding ‘their’ patch of forest without even the most basic of facilities such as decent housing, drinking water, toilets, electricity(solar), communication systems, protective clothing and medical aid. They have no fixed working hours or holidays and are on duty 24x7. The forest sector, even in crucial wildlife areas, is so short-staffed that there is no back-up if some worker goes on leave.
Even worse is the plight of the daily- wager — the lowest rung in the forest hierarchy — who works on a contractual basis for years, even decades, with no job security, just the desperate hope of a permanent job. Wages are paltry, and often delayed by months. Daily wagers may be slotted as unskilled labour but the mahouts, tiger/wildlife trackers, protection assistants, fire watchers and drivers are the backbone of field protection, the first line of defence to protect the tiger and all that it signifies. They have ‘field skills’, a practical knowledge of the ecology and their ‘wards’, the wildlife in their custody. They are a crucial link between forest administration and local communities, a vital part of their task.
Forest staff face increasingly hostile situations. In a recent case of leopard conflict (it had attacked cattle, and mauled two villagers) in the Corbett landscape, the villagers mobbed the office of the Field Director of Corbett. The wardens who went to the spot were attacked by the mob — beaten badly, including with sickles. In 2010, a leopard, captured from a human-wildlife conflict situation and caged, was burnt alive by a mob in Dhamdhar village in Kalagarh Forest Division, Corbett Tiger Reserve. Also doused with kerosene were the staff members, who had come to help ease the situation. They had no choice but to watch helplessly as the hapless animal, which had not caused any harm, and only retaliated when mobbed, was burnt to death.
In the fragmented forests of north Bengal, conflict — both with elephants and leopards — is particularly severe. To counter this is the hard-pressed Mal Squad which monitors elephant herds, drives elephants from fields to the forests during crop-raiding season, rescues animals in distress (caught amidst mobs), armed with nothing but spotlights, firecrackers, shotguns with blank cartridges — and endless courage.
A key concern is that when forest staff use weapons in the course of their duty, they do so at their own risk. For instance, if they fire in self-defence or during an encounter with say, timber smugglers, which may result in injury or death to the offenders, they are likely to face murder charges in court. To cite an instance, a former director and other frontline staff of Rajaji National Park were filed under Section 302 IPC (murder) for opening fire and accidentally shooting an intruder in the park while on night patrol. The miscreants, who had illegally entered the park at night, far outnumbered the staff and had already opened fire. They are currently fighting the case at a personal level without any Government support. There are many such forest personnel, caught in the legal quagmire, and up against a powerful opposition that thrives on the illegal market for timber and wildlife contraband, and increasingly encroachment, mining and real estate mafia. Most times, when forest personnel take on poachers, putting their life and limb on the line, the latter walk free, given that conviction rates are lower than even one per cent.
It is well established that globally, wildlife crime seconds only narcotics and arms. It is, in fact, even known to finance terror groups. Wildlife trafficking is a lucrative, organised crime, with serious implications for security. India is a major supply country for wildlife contraband. Given the implications, it is high time we took the gravity of the crime on board, and equipped and empowered India’s Green Army, besides instilling a sense of pride and purpose in its task.
(The writer is trustee, ‘Bagh’ and Conservation Partner, WCS-India. She is a former member of the National Board for Wildlife)