Namdhapa Park to have a tiger protection force

PTI | 12:12 PM,Dec 28,2011 Utpal Boruah Itanagar, Dec 28 (PTI) With the Arunachal Pradesh governmment deciding to raise a tiger protection force, the sprawling Namdapha National Park, a tiger reserve under Project Tiger, can expect the rampant encroachment and poaching to come down substantially. The tiger reserve, spread over 1985 Sqare km in Changlang district, has been facing the twin problems for much too long to be ignored and the raising of the force would be of great help, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest B S Sajwan said told PTI. The force would be set up on the lines of one for the Pakke Tiger Project of East Kameng district in Arunachal Pradesh, Sajwan said. “With this, not only will the unemployed youths in the buffer zones get employment, but the reserve and its habitat can be kept from the clutches of poachers and encroachers,” he observed. The state government is also keen to thoroughly revamp the tiger reserve with a slew of development projects to be undertaken soon. The main problem faced by the Namdhapa Tiger Reserve since 2005 is the encroachment into its core area by 444 Lisu families of Vijaynagar Administrative Circle, adjacent to the reserve, belonging to 84 families at five locations. The authorities had carried out evictions in the past, but the success rate was low owing to lack of manpower and resources. Presently, the staff comprised a mere 24 forest guards and eight foresters manning the park which has a core area of 1,807.82 square km. The remaining 177.18 square km is a reserve forest.