Report of the Tiger Task Force - PRS

TIGER TASK FORCE REPORT JOINING THE DOTS ■II.insurance policies etc.xi) Physical fitness programme – No trainingor drill centres on site.xii) Lack of effective disciplinary action systemagainst the delinquent officials.Punishment should be swift and act as adeterrent.xiii) Lack of priority for deployment of armedpolice in time of crisis/to sensitive area.INFRASTRUCTUREi) Forest Officials are not empowered to usefire arms for protection of Governmentproperty/forest produce/wildlife except inKarnataka/Tamil Nadu.ii) Inadequate as well as out dated fire armsexist with the officials and whereveravailable no proper training programme/facilities exist.iii) Lack of uniform, shoes, patrolling kit forthe staff.iv) No/inadequate wireless hand-sets forcommunication.v) Inadequate mobility (motorcycles, jeeps,trucks, boats, etc.).vi) Inadequate forest chowkies/posts, antipoaching camps, patrol camps and staffquarters.vii) Poor service and maintenance of vehicles,wireless, chowkies/checkposts, buildings,equipments, etc.III. BIOTIC PRESSURE ON THE WILDLIFEHABITATi) Settlement of acquisition rights underWild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 pendingfor decades in PAs.ii) No effective steps taken to prevent andremove encroachments.iii) Very poor progress of relocation ofvillages located inside the NationalPark/sanctuary.iv)Inadequate compensation for the loss oflife and property including crops resultingin anger and deliberate damage both towildlife and habitat.v) Habitat fragmentation due to ill conceivedprojects/schemes which have adverseimpact on PAs.vi) Absence of adequate wildlife corridorsconnecting one PA/Tiger Reserve withanother.vii) Conflict of PA with local communityviii)(within as well as in peripheral villages).Rampant legal/illegal mining continues.ix) Unregulated and poor tourism management.x) Excessive/illegal grazing and removal offuelwood, MFP, etc. continues atunsustainable levels.xi) Presence of roads (State and other roads)with heavy traffic passing through PAs.xii) Poor management of tigers outsidePAs/tiger reserves.IV. POLICY AND ENFORCEMENT ISSUESi) Lack of will at higher echelons of politicaland administrative set up at both Centreand State levels (committees hardly meet,decisions kept pending, whatever decisiontaken remains unimplemented, posts notfilled, dual charge, powers oftransfer/posting misused, etc.).ii) Ineffective role of the MoEF in conveningmeetings of committees, decision takingdelayed, poor follow up action ondecisions taken, appointments etc. Endlessrecommendations of expert committeesgathering dust in MoEF for years e.g.iii)Subramanayam Committee.Lack of a grasp of human and ecologicalconcerns in wildlife conservation resultingin poor policy.iv) National Wildlife Action Plan (2002-2016)only on paper. Completely ignored andremains unimplemented.v) Lack of professionally trained wildlifeofficials leading to poor enforcement offorest and wildlife laws which is a criticalcomponent in the protection work.vi)vii)viii)ix)Lack of coordination between Centre andState in the implementation of policies,laws, guidelines and directives.Lack of coordination amongst the variousagencies/departments.National Wildlife Crime Bureau is yet to beset up even though decision to create it wastaken eight years ago.Ineffective intelligence collection andnetworking at local level, state level,national level and international level, andabsent or ineffective in most States.V. RESEARCH, SCIENCE AND MONITORINGi) No wildlife management manual – theProtected Area manager has no guidelinesto refer to and no clear prescription tofollow which leads to taking ad hocdecisions.ii) Absence/poor quality of ManagementPlan for Protected Area. Wherever theyAnnexures 169