OUR CORRESPONDENT
MANGALDAI: Orang National Park and Tiger Reserve (ONPTR) in Assam has been functioning without a full-time Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) and Field Director for more than a month, raising serious concerns about the protected area’s management.
Pradipta Baruah, the 16th DFO of Mangaldai Wildlife Division and Field Director of Orang Tiger Project, retired from service on September 30. Since then, an Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) has been handling the DFO’s responsibilities. However, locals claim that the absence of a full-time DFO affects the smooth functioning of official work because the ACF lacks the same administrative authority as a DFO. They have urged the Assam Government to appoint a full-time DFO at the earliest.
“Such a rich and sensitive wildlife habitat left without a full-time head,” Mayukh Goswami, Secretary of Mangaldai Media Circle, Shrawan Jha, President of Kharupetia Press Club, and Bipul Mahanta, Chief Adviser of Asomiya Yuva Mancha, expressed serious concern over the continued absence of a DFO, raising questions about why the Assam Forest Department has yet to appoint a permanent officer to the post.
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