The Genteel Ruffians

On the periphery of Corbett, another story is being scripted across countless farmhouses which have mushroomed over the years. It's a story you can understand if you manage a special pass from the rangers to travel from Kalagadh, the gateway to the core area, to Ramnagar town through a 44-kilometre stretch of dense forest which lies dangerously close to a number of villages. The stories happen in places like the irrigation rest house at Tumeria dam and also the Phanto forest rest house (west Terai forest division) which can be approached through Dhela on the Ramnagar-Laldhang road.

"Saab, simply take a look at the guest registers and later check the addresses. Most of them are fictitious. But all these places have been used by hunting parties. In fact, a few diplomats were involved in a shoot at Phanto in December last," reveals a worker at the Sarapdauli resthouse, absolutely insistent on anonymity. Insiders claim that there have been countless occasions when Corbett officials have sanctioned forest rest-houses for night-long revelries, especially during the winter holidays in December. Early this year, Joshi asked his officials to check out a report sent by one of the rangers who heard gunshots from the outskirts of the forest. They came from an area where an influential Delhi-based industrialist has a farmhouse and was celebrating New Year festivities with friends, including a young Olympian from Delhi.

As expected, nothing has come out of the investigation. Wildlife officials seem resigned to the fact that foolproof protection of the park is almost impossible. "How can you protect animals in Corbett? It's not a zoo to have barriers. Animals like deer and boar routinely stray out in nearby villages. Hunting is commonplace. There have been occasions when diplomats have visited farmhouses and gone for shikar in the night," says Nandan Singh Negi, a wildlife warden. There is some hope, even if it's extremely faint, of poachers being caught. But is there any chance at all of countering this other threat?