In the biggest official reshuffle that Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve has seen, seven officials holding crucial posts have been transferred from the reserve in the past three days. Although the state Government calls it routine, the exercise comes during the monsoon when tigers are most vulnerable to poaching.Park Director Rajiv Bhartari, credited with initiating eco-development measures, Deputy Director Parag Madhukar Dhakate, and G Sonar, Divisional Forest Officer, Kalagarh (which is part of the core area and a major tiger-bearing forest) have been transferred. While Bhartari has served for three years at the Park, the other two officers have worked there for less than two years. “This is a routine matter and the officers have been shifted as they had attained seniority,” said Uttarakhand Chief Wildlife Warden Srikant Chandola, adding “no other officers have been shifted”.However, sources told The Indian Express that four out of 11 range officers had also been transferred.Bhartari, who said he was not told the reason why he was transferred, will now join the Uttarakhand Secretariat as additional secretary and will work on eco-tourism. Dhakate will be DFO, Central Terai area, while the DFO has been asked to leave for Dehradun, with no post allocated as yet.“V K Singhal, who has served in Corbett as deputy director earlier, will now take over as director. Prior to this, he was director at Gangotri National Park for three years,” Chandola said. Meanwhile, tiger conservationists have slammed the move. “I fail to understand why this has been done now. The Centre allocates special funds to guard tigers during the monsoon since it is a difficult period. These officers were doing tremendous work and no one had long tenures to justify the transfers. The first director at the Park had served for nine years and the second for six years. This is unjustified and comes at the worst possible time,” said Brijendra Singh, member, National Board for Wildlife, who has also served as Honorary Warden of Corbett Tiger Reserve for the past 30 years.However, insiders said senior officers in the Forest Department were getting overshadowed by the staff at Corbett, which led to the transfers. Though the theft of ivory tusks from the Jim Corbett museum on June 12 was a sticky point, the officers concerned of that division were still in their posts.
