Dehradun, June 5
Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain, during a review meeting of the Forest Department, has directed department officials to recruit 90 “Tiger Guards” out of which 27 should be from the Gujjar community to prevent poaching. He also directed for regular raids, vigilance and patrolling to prevent poaching.
Jain instructed them to identify places where there was necessary to depute the Special Task Force (STF). He said all requisite weapons and equipment would be provided. He also asked them to impart quality training to members of the Wildlife wing.
The Chief Secretary stressed on spreading awareness towards forest fires and directed the department to take effective measures to prevent forest fires. He said even schoolchildren ought to be told about the forest fires and its prevention. He asked the officials to ensure the involvement of local communities and take help from Van Panchayats and Gram
Panchayats. He also instructed them to set up fodder banks.
Principal Chief Forest Conservator Dr RBS Rawat said 38 Master Control Rooms and 1,131 Crew Stations had been established. He said cases had been filed against 22 persons guilty of forest fire and 7 had been sent to jail so far.
Principal Wildlife Warden GD Sharma said 9 infrared cameras had been installed in the 1,288 sq km area of Corbett Park. He claimed that not a single case of poaching had been reported this year. As far as death of three tigers were concerned, he said one had died natural death, another died in a conflict and third one was a suspected to be a poaching case. This case was being investigated, he said.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary Forest M Ramaswamy, Additional Secretary Forest Sushant Patnaik and other senior officers.
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