Poachers rule the roost in Cauvery wildlife sanctuary

Chamarajanagar: With the forest department being short of staff to patrol the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary , poachers from Tamil Nadu have become emboldened in  hunting  animals in the forests across Chamarajanagar, Mandya and Ramanagar districts.

While admitting that shortage of staff had affected patrolling of the sanctuary spread over 1,027.53 sq kms,  Deputy Conservator of Forests, Dr Ramesh Kumar says it is the largest in the state and this too has  made it difficult to keep track of the poachers.

Of the 16 forest watchers posts at the sanctuary, only six are filled, and of the 35 sanctioned posts of forest guards, only 23 are currently filled,  he reveals. “Twelve Deputy Range Forest Officers and 35  guards are not enough for this sanctuary,” he says, explaining that as the   Cauvery flows for 1.73 km on the border between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, poachers from the neighbouring state use fishing in the river as a pretext to enter the sanctuary.

“We have introduce more mobile anti-poaching camps on the river side bordering Dharmapuri, Hosur and Krishnagiri , but we need more jeeps to guard the river area and more watch towers and adequate personnel for better protection,” the  officer says, revealing that since he took over about a year ago  62 cases of forest offences had been booked at the sanctuary. “There is no protection from the Tamil Nadu side. Only if the reserve forest area on its side of the river is declared a wildlife sanctuary, will there be effective protection,” he adds.

With the sanctuary  also under pressure from villagers, who want to graze their cattle inside it,  Mr Ramesh is currently working on a proposal to increase the posts of forest guards and deputy range forest officers for it and  carve out two more ranges to address the issues confronting it.