Simlipal's wait for tiger force continues

TNN | Jan 3, 2012, 09.54AM IST BARIPADA: Simlipal is yet to get its Special Tiger Protection Force even though the Centre had taken the decision to have it two years ago. Though Bandipur in Karnataka and a few tiger reserves in Maharashtra have already established their Special Tiger Protection Force, some formalities have delayed the launch of the project in Simlipal, said Anup Kumar Nayak, field director of the tiger reserve-cum-regional chief conservator of forests (Baripada). Nayak also said the state government, on its part, should give legal immunity to Simlipal Special Tiger Protection Force (SSTPF) personnel to use firearms to combat "tiger poaching and other related offences within the tiger habitat". Sources said the Tiger Force Assistant Conservator of Forests will remain the commander of SSTPF, while the field director will remain in-charge of the overall command of the Force. Though the SSTPF is meant to be funded by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), it needs the formal nod of the state finance department for implementation, Nayak said. Delay in getting this approval is one of the reasons for delay in launching of the project, Nayak added. The SSTPF will have three platoons, each under a tiger force range officer and assisted by six tiger force Forester and 30 special tiger guards. Its total recurring cost will be Rs 1.62 crore per annum with the non-recurring expenses working out to be Rs 1.9 crore approximately. The SSTPF foresters and forest guards will be trained by the state police as well as central paramilitary forces based on a special syllabus for skill development, combating poaching and intelligence-based enforcement in a forest terrain. The Simlipal Tiger Reserve sprawls over 2,750 sq km came to be known as the poachers' paradise when in mid-2010 after wildlife activists exposed 'mass killing' of elephants prompting the NTCA to appoint a 'probe team'. A survey conducted by Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India between March 26 and May 27, 2007 revealed that there were only 30 Royal Bengal Tigers in Simlipal. In 2004, the forest department put the number of big cats at 101 during a survey carried out under the pugmark method. The present scenario also presents largescale killing of sambars, deers and wild boars, the prey animals of tigers. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/Simlipals-wait-for-tiger-force-continues/articleshow/11347882.cms