G.B. THAPLIYAL, principal chief conservator of forests, met readers of The Telegraph at his office in Aranya Bhavan to answer their queries. Participants included Sourish Misra, Jayanta Sthanapati, Animesh Das, G. Laha, Sandip Banerjee, J.N. Das and Abhirup Biswas

Sandip Banerjee: Poachers are hardly punished these days. Perhaps, more stringent laws are needed to control them. What do you think?

According to the law, we can fine poachers a few thousand rupees and imprison them for six months. In forest areas, we can also seize the vehicles of the poachers. The trial, however, takes an inordinately long time. This is a major drawback. At times, offenders are also granted bail.

The light punishment hardly acts as a deterrent for poachers and those who fell trees illegally. Also, keep in mind that it typically takes eight to 10 years for a trial to end. We have urged the government to set up a green court to speed up the trial process in forest-related cases.

Abhirup Biswas: You have legal sanction to stop illegal tree-felling in forest areas, but you seem to have little power in urban areas. Why aren?t there similar laws for both urban areas and forests?

We indeed have little power to counter offences in urban areas. The department is looking for a legal way out of the problem and a Bill may be introduced soon to protect urban greenery.

However, there is a problem in having similar laws for urban areas and forests. For example, as per existing laws, trees cannot be felled in forest areas without permission. While the law would be a good one for urban areas, residents of rural areas might stop planting trees because of it. Villagers often see trees as an investment and plan to sell them when in need of money. If cutting of trees is not allowed, they will lose interest in planting trees.

Sourish Misra: Apart from poaching and illegal tree-felling, what are the problems facing forests?

A forest ? whether it is a sanctuary, wildlife park or natural reserve ? is a vast open space and the number of guards we deploy there is inadequate. To effectively combat crimes, we need more personnel at the Sunderbans and Jaldapara, the reserve forest for rhinos.

When we seize a tiger skin we hand over the case to police or the Criminal Investigation Department. However, they are so overburdened that they get little time to investigate our cases. If we can investigate the cases, then the problem can be solved forever. But we do not have legal sanction to carry out investigation.

J.N. Das: Recently on a tour of the Sunderbans, I heard forest guards express dissatisfaction over the old weapons they use. Why don?t you provide them with modern weapons so that they can fight crime better?

We have recently requested the Centre to provide us state-of-the-art weapons to fight smugglers and poachers, who carry sophisticated firearms. As the forest guards are not trained for combat in the manner Border Security Force or Central Industrial Security Force personnel are, the Centre is not in favour of providing them with modern weapons.

Abhirup Biswas: What are the different wings of the forest department?

We have six wings. They are: territorial wing, soil conservation wing, research unit, planning and working unit, wildlife wing and industrial development wing.

G. Laha: The forest department has many bungalows and lodges. How can we make reservations at these places?

We generally use our lodges and bungalows for inspection purposes. For the rest of the year, they are let out to tourists to generate revenue. West Bengal Forest Development Corporation looks after the reservation of the bungalows and for promotion of forest products like different types of oil and honey.

Concluded