M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Feb 23: The Palamu Tiger Reserve is not only starved of tigers but also human resources.
PTR is facing an acute crunch of rangers. It has a considerably good number of forest guards but not the rangers. There are a total of 8 ranges in the PTR.
A ranger in this tiger reserve has been notified to hold two more ranges in addition to his responsibilities of one range. The ranger is Tarun Kumar of Garu who works in the west range of PTR.
Deputy Director (South division) of PTR Mukesh Kumar said that Tarun Kumar is the notified ranger of Garu west range. It was further notified that Tarun Kumar would hold additional charge of the range of the Bareysanr which he was holding.
Now one more range (Garu east) has been notified as under Tarun Kumar, making him the ranger of 3 vital ranges of the PTR.
Sources said the PTR has an area of little over 1,300 square kilometers.
If these three ranges (Garu west, Bareysanr and Garu east) are combined, then Tarun Kumar will have to look after 559.98 square kilometers of the PTR.
Garu west has 164.77 sq km, Garu east is 175. 91 sq km and Bareysanr has 219.30 sq km.
These ranges are the heartbeat of this tiger reserve. They are important in their way and it is humanly impossible for a single ranger to command such a big range spreading over 559.98 sq km.
Surface forest fires are found in abundance here. A huge chunk of forest gets burnt every summer here. The surface forest fires are mostly man-made. Last year, satellite images of surface fires in the PTR were uploaded in bulk by the third eye on the forest in the country.
Summer fire in the PTR is said to be threatening from March till the onset of the rains. Apart from that, man-forest conflict gets high in summer here and it is all due to the Mahua trees and plucking of Mahua fruits, etc.
Sources said acute summer and scarcity of water drive wildlife like even sloth bears to stray into human habitation thus putting their lives in great jeopardy.
Sources said no ranger having three ranges can stop illicit felling of trees, sawing of logs of wood and its smuggling from the PTR to outside.
