Nuagaon: Residents of villages under the Mahipur forest range in Nayagarh district have expressed their resentment over alleged disinterest on the part of officials to protect the forest wealth. They say the officials are misusing the funds sanctioned for forest protection projects.
According to sources, the Mahipur forest range under Nayagarh forest division is divided into three sections – Gumi, Mahitama and Hamipur. In a bid to ensure more safety to plants and animals in the forest, the sections are further divided into beats.
The Gumi section, thus, is divided into four beats, Mahipur into five beats and the Mahitama section into seven beats. Every beat is guarded by a forest guard and every section has a forester.
Even after all these, forest officials are disinclined to do their job of protecting the forests. While the government pumps in crores of rupees for forest conservation, as also formation and protection of new forests, the negligence of the officials has endangered the wildlife and its habitat, say locals.
They say forest officials are using poor people to clean the forests while keeping aside the funds sanctioned for forest development. In view of this, it is the villagers who have formed a committee to protect the forests. “While the village forest protection committee does all the work, the forest officials are there to claim credit for this,” one villager said.
“They also mismanage all the money that comes for the committee,” the locals alleged.
When contacted, the Mahipur ranger Subhanshru Sekhar Panda said that he would look into the matter.