This turnaround hinges on Naxal mercy

Forest staff dare where cops don’t, but mistaken identity spells death in Palamu

14 April, 2005

The forest officials are back at their posts. Deserted forest rest houses deep inside the core area got a face-lift recently and an overnight stay is not ruled out anymore. Since even facilities at Betla were deserted in 2003, the Palamu Tiger Reserve staff have managed to make their presence felt under the indomitable Field Director A.N. Prasad. But the good news ends there.
Look closely and you will see the officials don’t use their best vehicles — two Gypsy jeeps — and, in fact, have asked for replacements. Forest guards make do with ‘‘half uniform’’. Nobody here can afford to be mistaken as policemen. The police personnel posted at Betla, however, avoid the Naxal-infested forest as a rule. ‘‘Very rarely we involve policemen while conducting raids. It’s risky,’’ says A.N. Bhagat, Range Officer, Betla.
But even such extreme precautions can’t rule out casualties. The biggest blow came last September when a jeep was blown off — ‘‘by mistake’’ — with a forester and a guard in it. In 2003, Naxals killed two daily wage labourers to avenge the killing of a villager by then DFO Santosh Tiwari who had to open fire in self-defence during a raid. Then there are dacoits everywhere. Even DFO South Division P.K. Gupta was robbed of his GPS set on Teno Road this January. Palamu is still on short fuse.
Naturally, tiger numbers are suspect. As forest guards don’t have free access across the reserve, most tigers are accounted for by reports from villages. Pressed hard, the officials themselves come down to 30 from the 2003 census figure of 38 in this 1,026 sq km reserve. Even honorary Wildlife Warden Dr D.S. Srivastava, who has been working in Palamu for the last three decades, ducks the big question: ‘‘Why go into numbers? If we can save the jungle, tigers will naturally multiply.’’ On his part, he promises ‘‘a most accurate census’’ soon.
As such, the movement of extremists inside the forest at any given time determines the ground access of staff. Conducting raids is another delicate proposition. ‘‘One must learn how to pick up individuals without offending the village community. If a raid causes mass resentment, Naxals are bound to intervene. They can’t risk losing popular support,’’ says Jalaj Kumar, Assistant Conservator of Forests.
‘‘Prasad and his team have done a great job. But the law and order situation at Palamu is still far from satisfactory,’’ says Project Tiger Director Rajesh Gopal. In a spate of judicial activism, more than a dozen offenders were sentenced in the last two years. Till then, timber smugglers operated in several teams of 30-40 villagers and cleared the forest daily. The effect shows on large patches of waste land where the jungle once flourished. Palamu also has a tradition of revenge-killing of tigers by poisoning cattle kills. Though the situation has palpably improved, protection is still far from adequate.
Though the Project Tiger Steering Committee meet on April 12 put the idea of denotifying ‘‘troubled reserves’’ on hold, the staff here feel that any such move in the future will destroy whatever is left of Palamu. The officials list their achievements since Prasad took over. They have persuaded the Railways to maintain a 25-km speed limit while running through the reserve after more than a dozen elephants died in the last decade. No death has been reported since 2003. They could also stop grazing and tree-felling in the tourism zone — a 35 sq km pocket around Betla — an achievement ex-director P.K. Sen describes as ‘‘nothing short of a miracle’’. But beyond that, staff movement and conservation work are at the mercy of Naxals.
Like in Indravati, here too, the officials seek solace in the fact that the Naxals have publicly warned against hunting and tree-felling. But they — the PWG and MCC — earn by levying tax on tendu trade and offer obvious protection to these contractors. Add to this a huge cattle population of 90,000 that depends on the jungle. ‘‘As far as grazing is concerned, most villagers, particularly the Yadavs, enjoy certain immunity as they shelter and support the extremists,’’ says Srivastava. The dry deciduous parts of the forest can hardly take such pressure.
There are certain plusses though. Since the formation of Jharkhand, funds have never been a problem. The World Bank-sponsored India Eco-Development Project has finally taken off and is being used well to win the villagers’ trust. A recent World Bank report lauded Palamu for engaging women in the project. Says Prasad: ‘‘It may not be the best of reserves but we have worked hard to bring Palamu back on track. Now there should not be any looking back.’’