Spring Of The Big Cat

RUDRA Brahma, range officer at Manas National Park's Bansbari range, can't forget that night in March 1993 when he was attacked by miscreants with daos and axes. "That attack," which saw the miscreants decamping with at least a dozen .315 rifles and some communications equipment, says Brahma, "was the nadir of the miserable period the park underwent between 1989 and 1993." He should know. Brahma has spent 19 years at the park, rising through the ranks and witnessing first-hand the rise, fall and the rise again of the national park, one of the remaining three natural habitats for the tiger in India, and designated a World Heritage Site by Unesco.

Such was the havoc caused by Bodo militancy during 1989-93 that the park remained totally closed for tourists, and forest guards feared to venture inside fearing attacks from the militants. Several wooden bridges were burnt, forest beat offices and other park property destroyed, so much so that Unesco, which had given Manas the status of World Heritage Site in 1985, had to declare the park an "endangered heritage site" in 1991. The organisation asked the Centre and state governments to ensure the national park was saved from the depredations of the militants and was even willing to extend monetary aid, provided certain conditions were met by the authorities.

Accordingly a master plan was drawn up and submitted to the UN agency in 1992. A year later, in 1993, the Bodo agitationists signed an accord with the government, signalling an end to their confrontation with the authorities. And apart from the March 1993 incident when Bansbari was attacked and arms looted, the last five years have witnessed a major turnaround in the fortunes of the park through the combined efforts of the forest authorities, NGOs and the local populace and, of course, Unesco.

The national park, spread over an area of 530 sq km, is now entering its second phase of conservation. According to park director Rajendra Agarwalla, it has taken the authorities nearly three years to undo the damages caused by the Bodo militants. Although the threat still exists, the park authorities have been able to repair some of the damaged bridges, re-equip the forest protection staff with state-of-the-art communications equipment and vehicles to increase the vigil. The Unesco aid, to the tune of $235,000 spread over a period of five years, has come in time for the park authorities to procure two fibreglass speedboats for river patrolling, three vehicles for road vigil and Motorola wireless sets which "have improved the efficiency of the staff tremendously," says Agarwalla, who has presided over the turnaround.

 The improvement reflects in the figures. As per the 1997 tiger census (or estimation as you'd now call it) there were 89 tigers in the park. That number is a precious nine more than the figure recorded in 1995. Agarwalla says the male to female ratio is also healthy, with 27 males against 54 females. "That there are eight cubs is evidence enough that reproduction is also taking place at an adequate pace," he says. In any case, Manas has shown tremendous increase in the number of tigers in the past quarter of a century. In 1973, when it was designated one of the Project Tiger Sites, there were barely 31 tigers. Today, it is almost three times that figure. With Manas having regained part of its lost glory, the tourist flow is also expected to increase. In fact, the very first year after it was reopened it saw a record of over 4,000 tourists. In the past two years the numbers have declined but the reduction is attributed mainly to extraneous factors such as the prevalent insurgency throughout the state apart from the lack of adequate infrastructure for the tourists in the park itself.

HAVING achieved the primary target of getting the park back on its feet, Agarwalla now has his sights set on the second phase of conservation. "There is direct conservation in which forest staff is directly involved, and then there is secondary conservation or 'protection with cooperation' which involves people living on the periphery of a sanctuary or national park," reveals Agarwalla. In this effort, he is hoping for assistance from the World Bank on the lines extended to nine other national parks in the country. "The second phase of conservation involves an ecology development programme in areas surrounding the park, provision of drinking water to the residents in the vicinity, awareness campaigns on health and ecology, construction of an interpretation centre etc. The idea is to help make people and nature interdependent again," says Agarwalla.

The experiment, which began last year, is beginning to show results. In the Bansbari range alone, 40 tube and ring wells have been installed in 18 villages located on the fringes of the park. Outlining the benefits this has brought to the villagers, Bishe Rai, a widow living in Giati village, says: "Earlier we had to bring water from at least two miles away and in any case, the water was not clean. Ever since this tubewell has been installed, I do not have to worry about potable water." Concurs Deepak abha, a forester living with his family in the same village: "Earlier we would dread the summer and late winter when streams would dry up and we'd face water shortage. No more."

 Provision of drinking water isn't the only aspect of the secondary conservation. The aim, as Agarwalla and Brahma point out, is to create assets for people in the national park. "It can't be denied that these people living on the periphery of the park depended heavily on forest produce for most of their requirements. Now that they're not allowed to use the natural resources, the need is to provide them with alternate sources of income. That's why we're creating nurseries and helping them grow grasslands outside the park," says Agarwalla. The villagers have responded enthusiastically to these schemes. Among them is Manoj Gurung, who has been living in the area for the past 25 years. Says he: "All these years, we never thought twice before entering the forest, but now that we're told about the problems, we're more careful."

Income-augmenting projects such as establishing hand-loom centres and piggeries which would give the villagers an alternative source of income too have been introduced. With most villagers depending upon agriculture for their livelihood, the park authorities have devised a novel way to help them. Since planned irrigation is virtually non-existent in the area, Agarwalla and his team have dug feeder canals connecting the streams and rivers that run through the park to fields outside it. "Those who grow different crops through the year are now assured of getting water to irrigate their fields during non-monsoon periods too," says a ranger in the park.

But providing facilities is one thing and sustaining the interest of the people, who are mostly illiterate, quite another. Aware of this, Agarwalla is now looking for "grassroots" NGOs based in the area and interested in helping people. "We get lot of visiting NGOs but what we need is organisations which would stay put here and work with the people in creating awareness," he says. Health camps, environmental education camps and educating children is on top of the "secondary conservation" agenda that is being practiced in Manas but to do that, more NGOs will have to volunteer. Luckily, within the park itself, there has been a major change with the forest staff now able to concentrate more on their job than worry about militant attacks. The new equipment has also helped. With Unesco having already disbursed $75,000 dollars and sanctioned another $90,000, Manas can look forward to regaining its status as a World Heritage Site. Once that's done, this national park, one of the handful of Project Tigers in the country, can rightfully be at the top of the list of great natural habitats in the world. After all, it is home to 22 of the 41 endangered species listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.