BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to tackle poaching and wildlife smuggling, the state government has decided to activate wildlife crime control cells (WCCCs) at the circle level across Odisha.
The decision was taken as part of the conflict mitigation action plan of the government, an official of the Forest and Environment Department’s wildlife wing said. “Apart from keeping records of wildlife crimes, the cell will gather ground-level intelligence from all territorial and wildlife divisions under its jurisdiction and assist forest teams in launching a crackdown on wildlife criminals,” he added.
Sources said such a cell has already been activated in Baripada Circle while others have also been asked to form it within two months as per the timeline. The cell in the Baripada circle has been named ‘Similipal-Wildlife Intelligence Network’ (S-WIN). “Appointment of field staff to the cell to gather intelligence has already been completed. An assistant conservator of forests (ACF)-ranked officer has been given the charge of coordinating with the staff and ensuring a record of wildlife crimes in the region,” he informed.
Meanwhile, in Bhubaneswar Circle, the regional conservator of Forests (RCCF) has initiated measures to form the cell. The RCCF reportedly has urged the Forest department to increase staff strength in the circle for the purpose. The move to create WCCCs came after the recent incidents of poaching and attack on forest staff by armed poachers in Similipal and other forest divisions.
Following a spate of jumbo poaching incidents, the state government formed a Joint Task Force (JTF) for the protection of wildlife, especially the elephants and big cats in September last year. The JTF, headed by the chief conservator of forests (wildlife), has officials from both the Forest Department and Odisha police.
It includes deputy conservators of the forest, two assistant conservators of forest and three forest rangers along with one SP/additional SP-ranked officer, two police inspectors and three sub-inspectors. Officials said steps are also being taken to strengthen the Elephant Protection and Wildlife Crime Control Cell at the Wildlife Headquarters.