Ramnagar (Uttarakhand):Despite preventive steps being taken by the authorities,
poaching continues in Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand's Ramnagar district.
Security guards and several Forest Rangers are deployed to keep the wild animals
safe from poaching. Ramnagar district shares about 30 kilometres boundary with
the park and 90 kilometres of a village adjoins it. Therefore, there is more activity
of the locals in this forest area. "The staff there is more focused on production
and protection of forests. They are focused on these two things. Somewhere or
the other, the percentage of locals visiting their forest region is more than
ours. Our forests are not that affected by the general public coming and going
as the adjoining forests are. There is a lot of pressure from the locals there,"
said Umesh Chandra Tiwari, Park Warden of Corbett Tiger Reserve. Forest officials
say they are using the available infrastructure effectively. " In accordance with
all these things, we make protection plans and we get a result according to that.
This is definitely a challenging job," said P.K. Patra, Divisional Forest Officer
(DFO), Ramnagar. Patra claimed that they have successfully handled many poaching
cases and many people have been prosecuted.
