NAGPUR: Nearly a month after it was inaugurated, the regional office of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) started its operation on Thursday from Ravi Nagar.
The NTCA office was inaugurated by union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh and chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on April 27, since then the office was locked.
TOI's visit to the office on Thursday found that wildlife veterinarian Dr A D Kholkute, who has been appointed as a consultant, was sitting in the office. The furniture has been hired from the adjoining working plan office and arrangement for fans has also been made.
NTCA sources said they have already appointed Ravikiran Govekar, assistant inspector general (AIG), forests, on May 11. The state government has been informed about it but has not yet relieved Govekar. Govekar is deputy conservator of forests with Allapalli wildlife division.
In the meanwhile, the MoEF has taken no steps to appoint an inspector general (IG), a rank of chief conservator of forests (CCF), to head the NTCA office.
General manager of Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) Shree Bhagwan was tipped to head the office but the MoEF has not issued a notification yet. Bhagwan was not available for comments.
The state government delay in relieving Govekar and MoEF in appointing an officer to head the NTCA office here may cost dear. A section of officials feared that it may not happen that the regional office is shifted to Bhopal.
Earlier, the central office of MoEF and later the office of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) were proposed to come up at Nagpur. However, MoEF office was set up in Bhopal and WCCB in Jabalpur. "MP still considers itself to be a tiger state and must be eyeing the NTCA office," state forest officials feared.
Of the three NTCA offices in India, Nagpur is the first to be opened. It will oversee 13 tiger reserves in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The main duties of Nagpur office will be planning, monitoring, and providing necessary guidance in the field management.
NTCA officials said plans are afoot to recruit eight support ministerial staffers on outsourcing basis, but unless an IG level officer is appointed to head the office, its opening seems to be a futile exercise.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/NTCA-office-starts-operation-sans-a-head/articleshow/8594202.cms
