Hurdle for Haritha Haram as thieves cut away tree guards

HYDERABAD:The Telangana forest department is facing a new crisis, that of stolen tree guards, which is costing it time and money . Even worse, it is learnt that in some cases, the police, when approached by forest department staff to lodge a tree guard theft complaint, are adopting a dismissive attitude saying they have bigger fish to fry.
The forest department, tasked with the Haritha Haram programme by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, installed new theft-proof tree guards designed to better protect the saplings.The department has now realised to its chagrin that even the effort of digging a one-and-half foot hole, into which the fibre reinforced wire mesh guard is planted, has not deterred thieves. Instead of pulling out the tree guards, people are snipping their way through the new guards and taking the mesh away .
“We have lost a few hundred of these guards so far in different districts,“ Rakesh Mohan Dobriyal, additional principal chief conservator of forests told TOI, adding: “It is a Herculean task to protect every tree guard.“
In Medak, intensive work involving local sarpanches and villagers solved the problem. People who stole the gu ards were identified and educated on the necessity of safeguarding the saplings.
Vexed with the continuing thefts, the forest department instructed its field staff in all districts to lodge formal complaints with the police.One such complaint filed in Bhongir involved 30 stolen tree guards. A case was registered. “But not every police station is willing to take such complaints seriously ,“ a source said.