No single safety protocol can cover entire forests: Official

The recent tragic death of the director of Nagarhole Reserve S Manikandan in neighbouring Karnataka has raised several questions regarding the safety of Forest personnel while on duty inside jungles, the status of weapons provided by the department, the size of manpower and the strategy adopted by the team during man-animal conflicts.

Some experts feel that while mob psychology could be predicted as it would mostly be in line with the human behaviour, it would not be easy to gauge animals’ state of mind since they would not be expressive. “We know when a mob is going to let loose its frenzy. When we sense the situation is going out of control, the mob control protocol is employed to bring the situation under control,” said a Forest officer on condition of anonymity. 

This essentially brings to the fore the dangers lurking in 17.59 per cent of geographical area (GA) that was recorded as forests, according to the Tamil Nadu State of Forest Report 2017. 

Though the entire area comes under the purview of the Forest department, Revenue administration and the respective district police could enter these limits if there was a law and order situation in any of the human habitats within the forest limits. To tackle such emergencies, the state formed a Special Task Force (STF). A classic case handled by the STF was the forest brigand Veerappan who was killed in 2004. The force was also being drafted for anti-poaching and counter-insurgency operations in forests. 

As every forest area is unique, evolving a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is hard to put in place. Strengthening the force by modernisation, and upgrading the existing stock of weapons, among others, might be key to prevent incidents like Manikandan and the brigand cases, suggest wildlife experts adding that local knowledge and foresters’ experience must be effectively utilised to curb the rate of man-animal conflicts. 

Vijay Krishnaraj, a wildlife activist and former secretary of Nilgiris Wildlife and Environmental Association, said that the force has binoculars, but they lack night vision facility. “Such shortcomings must be set right. Indents for magazines and cartridges of guns should be replaced annually”, he said. 

“Nearly 50 per cent of the sanctioned strength remains vacant and fulfilling the same will reduce the load on foresters to a great extent”, he added. 

A forest official from state said that the force was well equipped to deal with any kind of situation and the only issue was that the field officers forget to carry necessary equipment. “We have everything – GPS, weapons ranging from 303, double-barrels to pistols (Glock), etc.,” the official said. Regarding vacancies, the official maintained that some posts had to be filled and steps were being taken by the state government to fill them up. 

While personal safety is always considered as the primary agenda for every staff in the forest department, the same is reiterated by the top brass during every expedition into the forest. For instance, foresters need not necessarily inspect or visit an area where elephant herds camp, unless they are close to human habitats within the forest range. 

“Having a single protocol for all areas won’t help as behaviour and attitude differ from animal to animal”, opined another IFS official seeking anonymity.

Never speak, see, listen and proceed are the three basic rules that the personnel have to follow while on a forest inspection drive. If the area is not regularly perambulated, there are greater chances of encounter any time. The auditory-visual vigil is the primary skill required to survive during encounters in the wild. 

By convention, when an IFS officer sets out on a field visit to an elephant zone, two trained staff will lead him/her into the forest by combing around 50 metres ahead. The number of members would change invariably based on strength in that region. Anti-poaching guards, who are drawn from the local community, will be part of the team that goes before the IFS officer.

This, experts, consider as an advantage. The anti-poaching guards would always carry crackers with them to scare animals and would be the first to sense presence of wild animals, if any, in the vicinity. They would raise an alarm without disturbing or attracting the attention of the animals, point out experts. The strength of the team would vary between a combing operation and a regular field visit. 

There is no hard and fast dress-code for the foresters. They choose their attire according to necessity and mobility. Mostly, they choose camouflage as the colours blend ideally with forest environs. Some also opt for dark colours. The shoes will have to be functional not formal and the officer in distress should be able to use it to run in case of any emergency. Forests in Tamil Nadu are administered by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF-Head of Forest Force) in the rank of an IFS officer, assisted by 8 PCCFs, 16 APCCFs, 25 CCFs, 19 CFs and 39 DCFs.  In addition, 70 officers of state forest service and Tamil Nadu general service also aid the PCCF -HoFF) in the administration.