Bandhavgarh tiger park faces fund crunch, staff shortage

PTI Nov 7, 2011, 03.00PM IST BANDHAVGARH (MP): Shortage of more than 100 trained foresters coupled with fund crunch to shift about a dozen villages from the core area of Bandhavgarh National Park, which has the highest density of tigers, are posing a grave problem for its authorities. "There is a need for minimum 240 staff including forest guards, range officers and foresters here to properly maintain the reserve park but we have only about 100 staff to do the job," CK Patil, field director of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, said. Situated in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh, the core area of the park is spread over 716 sq km. According to the latest census, there are 59 tigers in the park, an increase of 12 from 2006. Known for its highest density of Royal Bengal tigers in the world, there are still 12 villages inside the core area Bandhavgarh forest. "There were a total 14 villages inside the core area and till now we could shift only one village and the process for shifting another is in the process. We need to relocate all these villages otherwise it would be difficult to prevent man-animal conflict and protect wildlife," Patil said. According to the relocation scheme, every family gets Rs 10 lakh as compensation for shifting out from the core area. There are about 2,500 families residing in the area. "We need Rs 250 crore for shifting these villages out of the core forest area. We are not able to expedite it due to the severe fund crunch," the field director said. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-07/flora-fauna/30369202_1_fund-crunch-core-area-forest-guards