In view of the increased probability of poaching not only by seasoned poachers but also by locals for bush meat during the festival of Holi, the forest department has declared a high alert in the State.
However, wildlife activists have alleged that the high alert is a sham as on Tuesday, the director and deputy director of Corbett national park were on leave while many posts of employees at different levels are lying vacant.
The State anti poaching cell chief SK Dutt informed The Pioneer that a high alert had already been declared in the State due to the increased probability of poaching during the festival of Holi. “Patrolling has also been intensified to prevent wildlife crimes,” he averred. Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) Uttarakhand in-charge Rajendra Agrawal said that apart from seasoned poachers, even villagers are liable to poach wild animals for meat on such festive occasions so effective measures are necessary to prevent poaching.
Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) co-opted member Gauri Maulekhi, in a letter written to the chief wildlife warden SS Sharma, complained that though a high alert had been declared in Corbett some time ago in view of incursion and poaching cases, the Corbett director Ranjan Kumar Mishra and deputy director Dr Saket Badola were on leave.
She said, “Mishra said that he was going out on official work and then attended the Holi Milan programme in Rajaji national park on Sunday and has been on leave since then. While the deputy director is also on leave, 11 out of 12 posts of range officers and 55 out of 139 posts of forest guards are lying vacant in Corbett. If senior officers avoid work, the morale of junior staff is liable to fall. If the director uses departmental work as an excuse to attend a get together, how can he force his subordinates to workIJ”
However, the Corbett deputy director said that though he himself was on leave, the director had gone to attend a meeting and was expected to return on Tuesday. Badola said, “Though I am on leave, this does not mean that work in the national park is affected because the staff adjusts to such situations. We are on high alert which is one of the reasons why poaching has decreased,” he stressed.