UP: Forest watchers of Dudhwa and Pilibhit tiger reserves paid 11-month-old wages on Holi

PILIBHIT: Delayed partial wage payments of the forest watchers' is forcing frontline forest protectors to join hands with illegal fellers who raze trees in the jungle daily and sell them to timber merchants or brick kilns at a remunerative price.
The current financial year concludes on March 31 and the Dudhwa tiger reserve and Pilibhit tiger reserve, this month, have been allocated only 25 per cent part of their respective annual budgets, requisitioned in April last year through their Annual Plans of Operation (APO). The PTR's APO of Rs 10.62 crore was approved in January, while a nod had been given to Rs 25.60 crore for DTR by the government.

At least 80 to 100 villagers barge into each of the five forest range areas of Pilibhit tiger reserve and carry 3 to 4 quintals of logs of wood and timber on each bicycle, says a daily feller in Pilibhit. "We pay Rs 200 per bicycle to the respective forest watcher and sell the timber at Rs 800 to 900 daily," he disclosed to local media who caught him while carrying the forest wood on bicycle.
DTR field director B Prabhakar and the divisional forest officer of PTR, Naveen Khandelwal said that the wages of the forest watchers had accumulated for a period of the last 11 months amounting to over Rs 10 crore. Now, they have been given 25 per cent payment of their arrears.
Amitabh Agnihotri, the vice president of wildlife biodiversity conservation society said, "The uncontrolled infiltration of daily fellers in core forest regions is not only causing excessive damage to the trees but also poses great threat to tigers' habitats forcing them to stray in agricultural fields."
Bilal Khan, wildlife enthusiast and writer of the wildlife book 'Safarnama' has sent a detailed complaint in the matter to the principal chief conservator of forest (head of the department), Mamta Sanjeev Dubey.
"In absence of the regular payment of wages, the forest watchers have not only transformed the jungle as a tool of earning money but their nexus with the fellers have completely wiped out the fear of law from their minds," Khan said.
"The forest roads are maintained every year in September-October after the monsoon session and because the funds against the APO are generally released not before December, the forest authorities allow the concerned labour to fell trees in lieu of their road maintenance wages," Khan alleged, adding, he filed several complaints to higher authorities regarding this malpractice but to no avail.