After losing two tigers in two days, Rajasthan seems to be taking the security of tigers more seriously than ever. Reportedly, the formation of a special task force for the Sariska tiger reserve has regained priority by the forest department. The dedicated task force has been in pipeline for last few years but now the reports suggest that it will be prepared in next 5 months.
A few days ago, ST-11 was poached in Kala Meda village has increased the concerns for poachers intruding in the reserves and besides the unarmed forest guards are not able to counter the armed poachers. Since the tiger populace of Sariska wiped out in 2005, it’s a sensitive area and yet it’s poorly guarded which needs to be corrected.
Sariska Tiger Reserve
To prepare a special and dedicated tiger task force, the forest department will recruit people from the local villages and then they will be trained and deployed at STR. While 60% funds will be provided by the Central government, the remaining 40% will be contributed by the state government.
The new personnel will be deployed for 10 to 15 years and then will be absorbed in the department. They will also be given adequate firearms to tackle the situation.
Talking about Sariska Tiger Reserve, it is spread across the area of 1,281 square kms which is divided into 6 ranges. While the sanctioned strength is of 132 guards, it has just 108 guards, which makes it difficult to manage the area. In fact, the guards are not armed properly and hence they find it difficult to tackle the poachers.
