BHUBANESWAR: PCCF (Wildlife) Susanta Nanda on Saturday retired from service prompting the state government to appoint senior IFS officer Prem Kumar Jha as the new PCCF (Wildlife) in-charge.
A 1989 batch IFS officer, Nanda assumed the charge of PCCF (Wildlife)-cum-chief wildlife warden in November 2023. In his brief stint as the state wildlife head, the senior forest officer has been credited with bringing many reforms in the sector.
Nanda played a crucial role in the introduction of AI cameras for better forest monitoring and the translocation of two tigers from the Central India landscape to Similipal to bring about the genetic diversity of the big cat population in the tiger reserve.
During his tenure, Odisha also became the first state in the country to designate judicial magistrates as special courts for handling wildlife-related cases. In a first-of-its-kind move this year, the PCCF also declared taking selfies and pictures with scheduled wild animal species, their carcasses, body parts, and trophies a punishable offense under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
The Forest, Environment and Climate Change department has allowed Jha, a 1993 batch IFS officer, currently serving as director, environment-cum-special secretary in FE&CC, to be PCCF (Wildlife)-cum-CWW in-charge, in addition to his own duties.