Littering inside forest premises is a major problem which tourists pose. In places like Bandipur where the NH runs through the park, people have 'picnics' inside the park premises and this is what happens...
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Littering inside forest premises is a major problem which tourists pose. In places like Bandipur where the NH runs through the park, people have 'picnics' inside the park premises and this is what happens...
KANS is campaigning against this, but the Department does not have the staff or vehicles to patrol the highway.
Sadly this is the situation at Gopalswamy betta as well.
In a lighter vein perhaps we should have a camp elephant mock-charge picnicers and send them packing.
Apana
Lot of times we find these people on the road side engaged in picknic. I have several times tried to discourage people and the result is they start shouting at you. The best way is to tell them that there is a tusker charging a few minutes back and was seen coming this side. Most of the times they vanish. A lie for the sake of a good deed may not be so bad. :D
Cheers,
Sabyasachi
Can't help agreeing with Sabyasachi's method of dealing with this!:D:p:cool:
Jokes apart, the problem is more complex. Over the years since Independence, the Indian Forest Service has become more and more of an administrative service than the enforcement service (on par with the Indian Police Service) it had been originally in the Raj days. The Service itself is responsible for this.
Over the years the Forest Department has become more occupied with silviculture, social forestry, and worse the stupid, destructive fad of 'eco-development' where officers enjoy their babu lifestyles with greater ease as chances of getting their hands dirty with ground level field work are as rare as the chances of fattening their wallets with '10% cuts' from well funded projects are high. What is needed at the moment is for the Indian Forest Service to go back to protection and enforcement and get rid of all social and eco-development nonsense. Just like we protect our political boundaries, our banks, our cities and our VIPs, we need to get back to protecting our nation's life support systems- our wildernesses. Its high time we had a force on the lines of the BSF protecting all our wildernesses. Ideally, the IFS should be phased into one such force. India's life support systems are incalculably more important than her borders and her economy.
Better than scaring away tourists with horror tales of angry tuskers, I'd love to see a Range Officer, proud in his uniform, scaring them away with his lathi.
Cheers,
Aditya
Yes I do agree that there should be a security force to handle the tourists and any other misconduct in the forests. Forests are as important as our borders or more than our economy, but we all are aware that it is given the least importance. The allotment of funds in the budget is minimal, which only leads to poorly paid officers and less staff, which is leading to all these issues.
Since the Goverment is not taking any steps to protect it, we have to do all what we can. So I think we have to adopt to the ways suggested by Sabyasachi and Apana.
I would say that there has to be a long term solution to the problem. Littering in places like Bandipur is because the road passes through it and people enjoy a picnic there. These are not necessarily wildlife tourists or enthusiasts. I have also noticed plastic water bottles thrown inside the forests. That can only be the work of people who go in the bus or jeep safaris into the forest. The jeep driver can certainly tell people not to throw. However, who will notice and control the howling tourists in that bus ride. They are too many people in the bus and one can easily throw a bottle or polythene bags without being noticed.
Enforcement has to be there. However, sensitising people is also more important. And that can only be longterm.
What can be the short term solution?
Cheers,
Sabyasachi