Raipur
Spread over 2800 sq km, the Indravati Tiger Reserve has been experimenting with a new system for the past one year. In a bid to establish connection with local tribal communities, many of them Murias, a few village youths have been recruited as patrolling guards.
“Locals have been engaged. They are managing and protecting wildlife. It wasn’t there initially. As a result, poaching has come down, and most importantly, forest fires have reduced by at least 50 percent,” Indravati Tiger Reserve Deputy Director Dhammshil Ganvir said, speaking about the initiative started last year and the “good results” that are coming out of the experiment.
Ganvir pointed out that the recruitment of patrolling guards is part of the central government scheme and is funded by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
There are about 56 villages in the core and buffer areas of the 2799.07 sq km Indravati Tiger Reserve which had three tigers according to the last census report. The critical tiger habitat of the reserve is spread over 1258.37 sq km. However, due to insurgency issues census work is often impacted.
Tribal youth Srinivas Modiyam from Dampaya village in Bhopal Patnam tehsil of Bijapur joined as a patrolling guard on March 1 this year. His selection process was simple enough. “A meeting was organised in Bijapur, I was asked a few questions and finally got selected.”
Modiyam has studied till Class 12 and bagged the job at a salary of Rs 9000 per month. But it means waking up early as duty calls him at 6 am, and walking 10-15 km daily.
He informed that his village has power connectivity but mobile network is not available deep inside the jungle where wild animals abound. “Many people in my village carry out farming or collect mahua flowers and other minor forest produce seasonally for livelihood. But wild boars are a problem as they damage crops,” he said.
Unlike Modiyam, Shankar Pottam has been working for a year. He loves capturing photos of animals and their footprints, and sharing them on the Indravati Whatsapp group.
“Patrolling guards cannot be too close to animals as many of them move away on seeing people. The best thing is that fire incidents have come down drastically. Mostly, fires happen due to dried leaves on the ground in the summer,” Pottam told The Indian Tribal.
As for Prahlad Kudiyam, his daily schedule is a busy one for the youth is on duty from 6 am to 11 am and then again from 2 pm to 5 pm. Kudiyam, who has been engaged in the job since December last year, saw a tiger once. Usually, he does not feel afraid as there are two-three people who roam the forest together. He uses the NoteCam app and often cycles from his house which is five km to join duty.
Ajay Kudiyam is another patrolling hero. He is from Chinnakawali village of Bijapur. Kudiyam, who was a chowkidar, became a patrol guard. He loves tracking both carnivores and herbivores besides clicking photos and making videos.
“Every beat has one guard. Many of us have been living inside jungles and are used to the terrain. If wild animals are seen, we do not make noise and let them pass. Sometimes, bear attacks happen when people go inside the jungle for mahua collection. Five years back, a man was attacked by a bear when he went to collect tendu leaves but luckily survived,” he said.
