Mangaluru: Normally, from an uprooted tree to a herd of elephants barging into a farm, the forest department is responsible. But, there are only 183 staff in the forest department, responsible for the protection of the dense forest of the along the foothills of the western ghats that lie in D.K. district!

Yes, the total sanctioned staff for the conservation of the forest is 269, but currently, only 183 staff are giving their service. As per the department’s sanction, there should be 81 sub-division forest officers. But currently, there are only 45 officers. Though 151 guards have been sanctioned for the district, there are only 111 guards who are in service. The remaining 40 vacancies have not been appointed.

There should be 37 forest guards but there are only 27 of them and the remaining 10 vacancies still remain vacant. Since two years, the sub-division forest department position has remained vacant at Mangaluru centre itself. Sue to shortage of staff, it is not possible for us to fulfill forest conservation work, say the department officials.

The forest department which is facing staff shortage has to bear more responsibilities now than ever before. Earlier they were responsible for the conservation of the forest, but now they have more responsibilities to bear. The increase responsibilities include inspection of ‘Akrama Sakrama’ files, digging rainwater percolation pits, cooperation with national highway expansion and plans relating to the development of the district and many other responsibilities.

Also, with roads connecting the corners of villages, the number of people cutting and transporting tress has also increased. Cutting of trees using modern equipment and an eye has to be kept in relation to mining activity also.

Destruction of elephant corridor and due to the lack of food in the forest, the intensity in elephant attacks has also increased. Besides this, the responsibility of ‘Vanamahotsava’ and the work on spreading awareness on conservation of forest also lies with the forest department. But, due to the lack of staff, it is not possible to look after all these works, say the department officials.

According to the information given by higher officials, since the last 18 years, the sanctioned staff numbers has never risen. In response to the changing scenario, the increase in the number of staff sanctioned by the forest department happened only in the year 2000. After this, the staff number has not changed even by a little. Even so, no action has been taken to fill the vacant positions sanctioned.

“There is a huge difference in the situation now and two decades ago. Earlier, there was only the responsibility of protecting the forest. But, now the responsibilities have increased. In this backdrop, it would be useful if the government at least took action to fill the vacant positions sanctioned by the department.

One guard has the responsibility to look after 5 villages. It is a little difficult to deliver this responsibility and therefore it would be easier for the guard to effectively deliver his duty if he was mande responsible for only two villages,” informs P. Shridhar, Forest Officer, Mangaluru Division.