Villagers and cattle invade Ranthambor, terrorise staff

In the court premises yesterday, the sarpanch openly threatened a Forest Range Officer. The ranger was there with the eight men and some buffaloes thedepartment staff had captured and taken away in a small truck.

8220;This is nothing new,8221; according to Conservator of Forests Rajiv Tyagi, 8220;It happens every year. Last year they attacked our staff with sling shots. Our driver lost seven of his teeth,8221; he said.

Divisional Forest Officer DFO G. Vishwanath Reddy, who faced the attack this year, said the intrusion into the forest started on July 19. A ranger went to the villagers, sat and talked to them, reasoned with them and asked them not to go further than the buffer area between village land and National Park.

On July 20, DFO Reddy went to inspect the area and noticed hoof marks of cattle going into the forest. The staff at a post told him the cattle and villagers could have gone towards Lambi nullah, an area in theheart of the National Park.

Reddy returned the next morning with 40 of his staff, including some rangers. They dispersed in three teams and proceeded to Lambi nullah. They found 10 villagers with about 150 buffaloes. Eight of the men and thecalves in the herd were rounded up and sent away in Canters. Two of the villagers were left behind with the unhealthy and weak animals and the forest staff started back with the rest of the herd, about 100-125animals.

Meanwhile, the two villagers left behind went and sounded their village. A mob of about a 100 villagers rushed into the forest, armed with lathis, spears and slingshots, and attacked the forest staff. 8220;We fired17 rounds, 16 rounds from a revolver and one from a 12 bore gun to keep them at bay,8221; said Reddy. They fired in the air, taking care not to hit anyone. The villagers took away the animals in the process. The forest staff managed to return safely, with two of them sustaining minor injuries.

The eight accused and animals were produced before a magistrate the next day. The animals were returned to the village while the men were handed to Forest Department on remand for three days. The Forest Department, as required under the rules, has asked for a magisterial inquiry.

Within the court premises, the Sarpanch of Ulliana village, KalyanPatel, threatened a ranger and challenged the Forest Department to try and retain any of its posts in the area. Ulliana and its Sarpanch Kalyanhave a notorious reputation, according to Forest Department staff. Over a decade ago, Kalyan led an attack on the then Field Director of National Park, Fateh Singh Rathore. They broke both his arms, a leg, a few ribs and left him for dead. He was lucky to survive.

Given this background, the Forest Department has requisitioned 100additional men from their own department in other districts, 100 homeguards and three to four police teams of five men each. In Sawai Madhopur, theForest Department has a staff of about 160, including rangers, to look after the Ranthambhor National Park and the Sawai Madhopur Sanctuary which together have over 20 posts to be manned.

The problem turns serious this time of the year, when all the fields have been ploughed and there is not enough land with grass leftto graze the cattle. The villagers, however, cannot claim any traditional rights to grazing in the National Park. They were never allowedaccess to the forest by the Gujars, who had about 20villages inside the forest, till there was a move tomake it a National Park and the Gujars were shiftedout, to be relocated 40 km away.

After the attack on Rathore, now a honorary wildlife warden, things were relatively quiet till 1997. Rathore himself had resigned and leftin 1986 8220;when the then Collector issued an orderallowing grazing in the forest,8221; he said. TheCollector was later suspended and the order revokedfollowing an uproar, Rathore added. Things went on asusual for a time. The confrontation between villagersand the Forest Department started again with Reddytaking active interest to protect the National Park.