RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh police on Monday arrested 16 people including six women who illegally encroached the forest terrain of Udanti-Sitanadi tiger reserve and had cleared the jungle to settle there.
The special task force created to inquire into the tree felling and encroachment visited the interior of the tiger reserve for the third time and found the villagers had constructed their dwelling (huts) after clearing the forest of around 3 acres of land of the reserve.
"Sixteen persons have been arrested, produced before the court and sent to jail for illegal encroachment. They had unlawfully constructed huts and encroached the land which have been removed," said Devashish Mohanty, the additional principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife).
Those arrested are cited to be the original residents of Anchala village in the adjoining Odisha state. "Earlier 26 people who came from Odisha, encroached and settle here were sent to jail. Strict action and preventive measures will be taken based on the findings of the probe team. Forest are meant to safeguard the wildlife and those found guilty will not be spared," said Atul Shukla, PCCF(wildlife).
Chhattisgarh forest department has also suspended its three staff including a range officer of the tiger reserve at Gariyaband for their dereliction in duties and delay in the prompt action over illegal activities, shielding the timber smugglers in the region and the rampant illegal tree felling in its buffer zone.
The range officer Neelkanth Gangver, range assistant Chandrashekhar Dhruv and a beat guard Satyanarayan Pradhan have been suspended even as the department will soon be submitting a detail inquiry report to the state forest minister Mohammed Akbar.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) too has planned to visit the Udanti-Sitanadi tiger reserve for ground inspection and to assess the loss owing to illegal activities by villagers from the Odisha state.
Chhattisgarh state already lagged behind other states in effectively implementing the management framework for tiger conservation. The state’s performance on tiger conservation mission has been miserable as the big cat population has dwindled by 59 per cent since 2014.