Sanctuaries in state work on outdated plans: Wildlife board director

Daltonganj: The Jharkhand State Wildlife Board on Tuesday asked officials of wildlife sanctuaries in the state to make 10-year plans for effective management of wildlife and their habitats.
The board’s director, D S Srivastava, who is also a member of the management and effective evaluation team of the Nation Tiger Conservation Authority, New Delhi, said the state sanctuaries are working on plans that have expired way back in 2010-11 financial year.

Stating the need for fresh planning, Srivastava said, “I may sound too harsh but wildlife has no vote value, so no one is bothered by it. It is also a fact that a divisional forest officer posted in Hazaribag (name withheld) looks after Udhuwa bird sanctuary which is more than 300 km away from Hazaribag. This Hazaribag divisional forest officer also takes care of Topchanchi sanctuary, Koderma sanctuary and Gautam Buddha sanctuary. From this, one can understand the pressure of work on forest officers.”

Srivastava further said chief minister Raghubar Das had already directed the officials concerned to ready the 10-year plan for all sanctuaries but no action has been taken so far. He added that without a proper and approved plan, no sanctuary can afford to grow or get stability.

Wildlife sanctuaries in the state are located at Palkot, Lawalong , Hazaribag, Gautam Budhha, Koderma, Udhuwa, Topchanchi, Mahuadarn and Dalma.