Conservation hit as Kawal reserve sees 8 suspensions in 6 months

Mancherial: Conservation and wildlife protection have been impacted at the Kawal Tiger Reserve with the suspension of as many as eight forest officials within a span of just six months, media reports said on Monday, August 10.

All the suspensions happened in the Jannaram division, one of the 11 in the erstwhile Adilabad district.

In the most recent instance, Indanapalli in-charge forest range officer Laxminarayana was suspended for allegedly beating up tribal youngsters in the Indanpalli range, said Telangana Today. Similarly, it said, Chintaguda section officer Bhojaiah, beat officer Srikanth, Indanpalli FRO Sridhar Chary, and beat officer Pranay were suspended. The charges against them were dereliction of duty, following sand mining and felling of teak trees in the division. This reportedly happened six months ago.

Meanwhile, Jannaram deputy range officer Kumara Swamy, Kishtapur beat officer Parameshwar and another official were suspended for failing to prevent illegal mining and transportation of sand from Kawal streams.

In a reserve that is anyway struggling to survive, with no resident tiger population for 13 years in a row, officials said suspensions are making their task more difficult. With so many staff members gone, no one is interested in working in the Jannaram division, they said.

The rampant sand mining might deplete groundwater, leaving the wild animals parched in the summers, said officials.