Tiger safety month

 In view of increasing incidents of man-tiger conflict in Uttar Pradesh, the state forest administration has decided to observe a ‘tiger safety month’ from December 1 to 31 in all forest divisions having a tiger population.

The plan envisages six types of conditions concerning tigers inside and outside the forest area for which specific strategies for each have been drafted.
The presence of tigers in the terai belt where sugarcane is cultivated in proximity to forest area has been given special precedence in the plan. The department will apply separate strategies in situations of tigers’ stay in the wild, lurking amid sugarcane fields, straying out of the wild, going missing, intrusion in a village house or being confined by villagers at an isolated spot and where its presence direct conflict with humans.

The prime objective is to impress upon villagers that the tiger is not the responsibility only of the forest department but a precious national asset and everybody must protect it.

To ensure prompt response to a tiger straying out of the forest, an information network will be set up at village level comprising primary response teams with at least five villagers in each village. These will keep touch with quick response teams (QRTs) for enforcement of timely relief operations in case of any emergency. One QRT will be set up in each forest range which will be commanded by the respective range officer.

Two rapid rescue teams (RRT) each under the command of one sub divisional forest officer will be set up. These teams will be equipped with nets, cages and other essential tools of rescue, the PTR official said.

To sensitizing locals, particularly cane growers, a series of camps will be organized at villages to give safety tips on how to avert man-tiger conflict.
For ensuring publicity of measures of tiger conservation and interaction with villagers, a vehicle named, ‘tiger safety on wheels’, will be flagged off from Mahrajganj district on December 1. It will cover all tiger regions in the state. Its journey will end on December 31 in Bijnor district, said Kuma

By: Arpit Gupta