BHUBANESWAR: Punitive action will be initiated against officials at division level found hiding information on poaching, unnatural death of elephants or other wild animals, warned the Forest, Environment and Climate Change department on Wednesday.
Sources said the divisional forest officers (DFOs), who attended a conference here on Wednesday were told by the department authorities that the arrest of three forest staff in connection with suppression of information about poaching of a jumbo in Similipal Tiger Reserve must serve as a warning to not indulge in such activities.
Minister Pradip Kumar Amat said, the government is following a carrot and stick method. Those doing good work will be rewarded, while non-performers will be punished. He underlined the incidents of unnatural deaths and poaching of elephants and other wild animals in the state and said that in spite of sustained efforts to protect wildlife, the department is yet to achieve the desired result.
The DFOs were reportedly questioned on the reason behind the increasing number of elephant poaching cases and field level officials failing to get details of such incidents on time despite development of Integrated Wildlife Management System (IWLMS). The system is a mobile application developed for recording incidents of elephant sighting and tracking of jumbo herds.
Forest department additional chief secretary (ACS) Mona Sharma asked officials to ensure regular field level enforcement and patrolling. She also stressed on early resolution of pension and promotion related matters to motivate forest staff.
On the other hand, officials at PCCF headquarters were asked to form working groups involving Divisional Forest Officers (DFOs) to study whether restructuring of forest ranges, sections and beats is needed for effective management of wildlife.
PCCF and HoFF Debidutta Biswal during the DFOs’ conference stressed on the need for preparation of a three-year master plan for different ranges as per their need to implement afforestation and other projects effectively.
PCCF (Wildlife) SK Popli emphasised on strict enforcement and use of technology in managing forest and wildlife, while PCCF (Nodal) Sushant Kumar Nanda also stressed on grassroots awareness on forest and wildlife.