
OUR CORRESPONDENT
DIGBOI: The Digboi forest division, custodian of Assam’s last lowland tropical rainforest in Assam’s Tinsukia district, is battling a severe shortage of staff and officials amongst other vulnerable challenges.
Shockingly, there is no Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) in the divisional office, and six out of seven ranges have no regular and stable forest rangers posted, leaving vast stretches of the Dehing Patkai landscape and other areas practically unsupervised or poorly administered.
Spread over more than 64,000 hectares of reserved and proposed reserved forests, Digboi division is home to the Dehing Patkai National Park and forms a part of the Dehing Patkai elephant reserve. This “Amazon of the East” harbours extraordinary biodiversity, including seven species of wild cats, elephants, hoolock gibbons, hornbills, and 111 species of orchids.
“Leaving the vast resources under-protected as the present scenario reveals due to manpower crunch could have irreversible consequences for the Northeast’s ecology,” said a local environmentalist closely associated with the division.
“Our division covers over 64,000 hectares, but without an ACF in the divisional office and with only one regular ranger post functioning at Lekhapani, effective patrolling is almost impossible,” admitted a forest division source on condition of anonymity.
“The Digboi forests are Assam’s rainforest jewel. But without adequate staff and officials at the headquarter, the fight against encroachment, poaching, timber smuggling, and mining is a losing battle,” lamented an office bearer of a local NGO working to the preservation of flora and fauna in the district.
“Stronger and urgent government support is very critical,” said the conservationist working in the region.
When contacted on phone to validate the authenticity of the information, BV Sandeep, IFS, the DFO Digboi, who remains non-committal said that authorities had launched awareness and eco-tourism initiatives such as the Dehing Patkai Eco-Discovery Centre and Bogapani Arboretum, while deploying camera traps and anti-poaching drives.
“We are no doubt confronting some issues in some vulnerable border areas but have effective strategies in hand to move forward to protect our land and resources,” added the top official. Notably, a retired ranger of the Division said that most of the ranges had been administered by either deputy rangers or foresters following their retirement or transfer which raises pertinent questions on competency and efficiency in protecting a vast forest territory.
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