No breakthrough in Tiger Strike Force as big cat population sees decline in MP

Madhya Pradesh has surrendered its top position in tiger population to Karnataka. The state now only has 308 tigers

Legal issues, paucity of funds and the lack of appropriate mechanism have come up as major hindrances in the formation of the Tiger Strike Force in Madhya Pradesh. The number of tigers killed in in the state during the last nine months, meanwhile, has crept up to seven. Only recently, a tigress and her two cubs were found dead at the Pench Tiger Reserve near Seoni. They were apparently poisoned.

After the Sariska debacle in 2005 - when several tigers disappeared from the protected reserve in Rajasthan - the Union government had planned to set up the Tiger Strike Force, which was to be fully-funded by the Centre.

In 2008, after a number of tigers abandoned the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, the central government proposed the setting up of a Tiger Strike Force in the state.

"The state government is working to set up the force with the newly recruited forest guards," said Deepak Khandekar, principal secretary of state's forest department. The state had earlier demanded some cops from the Madhya Pradesh police but it was legally difficult for the police to allot personnel for tiger conservation, as most of them are equipped with weapons.

"Encounters or killing poachers is not the job of the field forest staff. Their main job is to collect information from local people and notify authorities of any suspicious activities," said a senior official in state forest department.

"They must prevent acts of poaching, not kill poachers"

The force will be headquartered in Bhopal, with a mandated coverage over Indore, Jabalpur, Itarsi, Sagar and Satna forest ranges.

It will coordinate with various other agencies, including the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, and also develop its own intelligence. Similarly, the regional-level Tiger Strike Force will cover micro-level problems and coordinate with the forest staff.

The lack of funds is another major issue that is obstructing the setting up of the force. The Union government has already slashed allocations for various centrally-sponsored schemes, including Project Tiger, for which the environment ministry used to provide cent per cent funding for non-recurring expenses.

However, state forest officials state otherwise. "The state received substantial amount under development of national parks and sanctuaries -nearly Rs 50 crore in 2014-15 and approximately Rs 44 crore in 2015-16. The country-wide budget for Project Tiger during the same time was pegged ar Rs 185 crore and Rs 168 crore, respectively," a well-placed insider in the state government told Business Standard. The state forest department's annual report, tabled in state assembly recently, however, reveals that the state has not received any funds under the head "Development of national parks and sanctuaries" during the same period.

"The pattern of funding has been changed from this year as the state will also have to contribute 40 per cent to centrally-sponsored schemes. As a result, funds will be trimmed further," added the source.

Madhya Pradesh has already reported the dwindling population of the tiger. It has surrendered its top position to Karnataka and Uttarkhand, where the tiger population is 408 and 340 tigers, respectively. Tiger population in the state now is a despondent 308.

Gaurishankar Shejwar, Madhya Pradesh's forest minister, admits that tigers are dying, "We know that despite all our efforts, tigers are dying. We will keep striving for the conservation of the tiger and restore Madhya Pradesh's status of being India's 'tiger state'."

The rules for setting up the Tiger Strike Force in Madhya Pradesh are under process, with a plan to redeploy members of the force after being in the job of a forest guard for 40 years.

"Yet, it would be a tough task to arrest poachers as it requires an intelligent system comprising intelligent staff. Besides anti-poaching measures, village relocation, the creation of new infrastructure and use of innovative technology is also required," said another official from the state's forest department.

Of the six tiger reserves in the state, at least three - Kanha, Pench and Bandhavgarh - require urgent assistance in protecting the big cat. The setting up of the Tiger Strike Force will be a major step in that direction.