THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, July 29: July 29 is International Tiger Day. And the Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) has every reason to rejoice on this Day. It has a tiger with it, no longer a zero tiger status, a tag that went with the PTR for long. Further, its territories are getting emptied. Lands left behind by the villagers willingly and joyfully are now frequented by wild animals.
Successful Relocation of Villagers
Palamu Tiger Reserve has quite successfully got emptied a large landscape of Jaigeer from where 22 families have on their own decided to move out for resettlement at Polpol as their living in Jaigeer was a living in denial and deprivation of all governmental schemes and benefits, just because of the land on which they lived was part of the tiger reserve.
“It’s a pure voluntary decision of the villagers living in the core areas to get relocated and resettled outside the tiger reserve. There is no coercion, pressure, temptation or inducement from the side of the PTR,” explained Chief Conservator of Forest and Field Director of PTR, S R Natesh.
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Human-Animal Conflict Action Plan to Be Released Soon
Close on the heels of the International Tiger Day, the state wildlife machinery is ready to come out with the action plan to reduce the human animal conflict, a conflict worse than a border dispute.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren is due to release the Human Animal Conflict (HAC) Action Plan in the first week of August, informed Natesh.
The HAC Action Plan is a painstaking effort of the state forest department wherein WWF and the Wildlife Institute of India have given their valuable contribution to it.
Natesh assured the HAC Action Plan will go a long way to mitigate the aftermath of the human animal conflict in the state.
Infrastructure and Security Challenges in PTR
On the issue of the third railway track passing through the PTR, Natesh said, “Things are moving in the right direction. It’s a well-coordinated effort.”
As regards security forces having their huge camps and field of fire right inside the PTR, he said “It’s a security concern. Not much is to be said on this.”
The Discovery Channel is expected to cover the PTR. PTR has been a stuff of the national hook but in poor, shabby light.
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Addressing Habitat Issues and Invasive Species
About having just 1 per cent of the availability of the grass lands here in PTR when it ought to be much higher, Natesh said, “PTR has not much of the open land. It has a surfeit of the trees. We can’t afford to remove trees to create space. That’s not a happy proposition.”
“We have a well-knit plan. Space and ground left by the villages for their rehabilitation and resettlement elsewhere will be developed into a large expanse of the grasslands.” Natesh opined.
He agreed that invasive weeds occupy space in the PTR. Efforts are on to obliterate it. Invasive weeds grow faster in utter neglect, while palatable grasses take time to grow and thrive when in full care.
When reminded that cattle sheds have been set up by the influential cattle owners right in the PTR, to which Natesh said, “Cattle owners must have their own introspection if they are not posing problems with the wildlife here.”
Two deputies of the PTR, Kumar Ashish (south division) and P K Jena (north division), were with the Chief Conservator of Forest and Field Director Natesh during the entire stretch of the press conference.
Jena and Ashish have become a household name of the PTR for their sustained contact with the masses.
Natesh assured that efforts are on to have a trained sniffer or tracking dog here in PTR. It’s sheer bad luck that trained tracking dogs brought here had a short span of life.
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Focus on Elephants, Mandal Dam Relocation, and Tiger Conservation
Natesh looked passionate about the elephants here in the PTR, who as he said, are not as aggressive as those elephants which trespass here from neighbouring Chhattisgarh etc, barring a few occasions when the PTR elephants have incurred infamy for destruction of property, crop and sometimes human lives too.
About the Mandal dam, where 780 families are to move out of the 7 villages which will submerge, Natesh said,”The residents of these 7 villages have consented to the package of 15 L+ 1 acre of land. It’s a happy development of this dam, which is growing older and older over the past fifty years or so.”
Tigers here are transitory. They change their locations. In order to make these tigers a resident of PTR, two things are needed most. One, a sound prey base and second, safety. PTR’s team is working on both.
It’s like a dream come true to the relocated youths of Jaigeer at Polpol who will now have the facility of smart class.
