Forest guards lay down arms in UP

A case of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against him and as his wounds have deteriorated, he has been moved from jail to thelocal hospital.

Skirmishes between the forest department and timber thieves are quite common in this area. But Shivkumar8217;s case has been taken up by his entire department to highlight how its hands are tied when it comes to doing its job. In fact, department sources say that over the last three years, there have been at least 15 cases in which guards have been brutally assaulted by the region8217;s timber mafia. At least eight have been even killed.

The police, however, have a different version. 8220;As far as we can see, they were only poor people gathering firewood. The man who attacked Shivkumar is already dead, so we had to arrest him,8221; said S C Vajpayee, Additional Superintendent of Police. But why under Section 302 which implies premeditated murder? 8220;The section is for the judges to decide,8221; says Vajpayee.

Demoralisation is evident in the ranks 8212; from the District Forest Officer to the forest guard. 8220;As it is, we feel we are fighting a losing battle against the timber mafia and the poachers with ourlimited resources and an understaffed department. It is humiliating for me to keep going to low-rank officials in the police for bailing out a man from my department for doing his duty,8221; says J L Dixit, District Forest Officer.

One thing forest officers have been fighting for is more powers under the Indian Arms Act so that they can 8220;effectively8221; curb exploitation of the forests. 8220;We have been provided with arms but have no power under the Indian Arms Act to use them against the poachers or timber mafia. In most situations, the weapons become a liability to be used against us,8221; said Dixit.

Sources in the administration say that it8217;s not as black and white as the Forest Department is making it out to be. The timber mafia allegedly enjoys patronage from both a section of the police and the forest staff. Also, the mafia now is more difficult to check. Instead of the earlier practice of using large trucks, now there is a network of about a thousand 8220;headloaders8221; and 50 cyclists who keep nibbling awayat the forests and cart the wood away, bundle by bundle. If they are caught, they claim they are local villagers collecting firewood.

So while the police and the forest department blame each other, the bare Shivalik ranges are testimony to the damage that is being caused. These hills are rich with trees like Sal, Khair and Eucalyptus, each truck selling for as much as Rs 3-4 lakhs. 8220;These forests are very precious and take longer to regenerate because it is the meeting point of the Terai and the Bhanwar. Moisture is difficult to conserve in this topography,8221; says Dixit, talking about the 36,000 hectares of jungles in the area which is the buffer zone for the animals in the core area of Rajaji.

The revenue which they generate is Rs 3.5 crores annually but the annual budget is as little as Rs 50 lakh which includes the salaries and the maintenance of two divisions in the area. There are 36 forest guards with each having as much as 1200-1500 hectares to be responsible for. They are equipped with two jeepsand 40 arms. Forest officials say that maybe Shivkumar8217;s case will force someone to relook at these numbers.