Madikeri: As many as 136 of 454 posts ranging from Range Forest Officer to peon in the Kodagu Forest Circle are vacant, raising serious concerns about forest conservation.
The maximum number of vacancies is for posts of forest guard and watcher. Out of 192 forest guards sanctioned for the region, 127 positions have been filled, leaving 65 vacant. Similarly, 32 of the 56 watcher posts are vacant.
The success of forest conservation depends upon forest guards and watchers as they work in the field.
Senior officers depend upon forest guards and watchers to venture into the forests and understand the key locations of species of flora and fauna, a source in the Forest Department said.
Guards and watchers play a crucial role in checking smuggling, poaching, forest fires and elephant menace.
They are key sources of information on movement of smugglers, especially those who are from across the district border, the source told The Hindu.
However, what makes these posts unattractive is that many watchers, to this day, work for petty cash payment (PCP) in the hope of getting their services confirmed some day.They work under dangerous circumstances without modern weapons.
The situation is much better at higher levels. At the officers’ level, Range Forest Officers (RFOs) play a key role in forest conservation.
Eight posts of the 26 RFOs sanctioned for the region are vacant. Of the 94 posts of Forester, only nine are vacant. Six vacancies exist in the first division assistant category and seven in the second division assistant category. The Forest Department is in need of three more drivers, a stenographer, a second grade draughtsman, a second grade surveyor and a peon. Two of the three positions for typists are also vacant.
In Madikeri division, 21 out of 92 posts of forest guard and four out of 25 posts of watcher are vacant.
In Virajpet division, 32 guard posts (68 sanctioned) and nine watcher posts are vacant (23 sanctioned).
In the Madikeri wildlife division, 10 out of 28 guard posts are vacant. As far as RFOs are concerned, three posts are vacant in Madikeri division out of a total of 10. Two of nine posts are vacant in Virajpet division, one of four posts in the wildlife division and two of three posts in the social forestry division.
The process of recruitment to fill 37 posts of mahout and kavadi (assistant to a mahout) began recently, the source said.
The posts of Conservator of Forests, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Madikeri and Virajpet divisions, and Deputy Conservator of Forests, Wildlife Division, Madikeri, were vacant until a few days ago. Nagaraj assumed charge as Conservator of Forests and Karunakar as Deputy Conservator of Forests, Madikeri, recently.
