Head of Forest Force Dr. Meenakshi Negi visits Sargur taluk

Mysore/Mysuru: Forest Department personnel on combing operation face not merely the challenge of trapping the elusive tiger at the villages in forest fringes of Sargur taluk but the constant pressure from farmers, villagers and top officials.

In three separate cases reported from Sargur taluk alone, two persons have been killed by the big cats and one has been seriously injured and still undergoing treatment at the hospital. Following the flash protest staged by villagers to trap the menacing tiger, two of the big cats were trapped while two cubs were rescued.

Now, the operation is underway to trap the tiger that killed one Rajashekar at Bennegere near Mullur in Sargur on Oct. 26. Despite unrelenting efforts of Forest personnel, the tiger continues to hoodwink, by finding a perfect cover behind thick bushes.

To mention, the Combing Operation consists of 14 teams and over 150 personnel, aided by 46 camera traps and 10 live cameras installed at various locations, to trace the movement of the tiger. The thermal drone is yet another deployment to keep trail of the tiger. Two cages have  been installed on the lines of Tumakuru Model and three regular cages have also been kept, all to trap the tiger, but to no avail.

Dr. Meenakshi Negi, Head of Forest Force and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Karnataka, who was on an inspection visit to Bennegere, chaired an emergency meeting of Forest officials at Hediyala Range Forest Office, Bandipur Tiger Reserve, yesterday.

Explaining about the tactics to be adopted to trap the tiger, Dr. Negi prioritised establishing better rapport with the villagers in forest fringes, intensified awareness drive, installation of innovative board with cautionary messages to restrain villagers from venturing into forest areas and man-animal conflict.

Inter-departmental coordination should be maintained by involving Police, Revenue Department and other personnel and extend cooperation to Conservator  of Forest (CF), Assistant Conservator  of Forest (ACF) and Range Forest Officer (RFO), said Dr. Negi, stressing on additional measures to achieve the target.

Later Dr. Negi visited the tiger attack spot at Bennegere and interacted with the personnel involved in combing operation.

Meanwhile, the authorities concerned brought to the notice of Dr. Negi the anomalies in the counselling process for transfer of the personnel. The rules have been framed to restrict the staff from postings at their native places, which should be revised. If the natives are deputed, they can establish local contacts and take villagers into confidence, that comes in handy during the man-animal conflict.

APCCF (Wildlife Division) Manoj Kumar Tripathi, CCF (Forest Conservation, Bengaluru Division) Prachi Gangwar, CF, Project Tiger, Dr. P. Ramesh Kumar, CF (Mysuru Circle) S.S. Ravishankar and CF, Bandipur  Tiger Reserve S. Prabhakaran were present.