Tiger’s presence in Dalma make foresters worried

Jamshedpur: With tribal enthusiasts keenly preparing for the Bisu Sendra festival, the annual hunting ritual of the indigenous people, the forest officials have gone on alert mode.
The current year Sendra (hunting) festival is more concerning for the foresters as Tiger Samrat is present in the green environs of the sanctuary.
The four-year-old big cat is loitering in the core area of the Dalma forest for weeks and the forest officials are worried.
"Keeping the safety perspective in mind,we have barricaded all the 10 entry points to the core area to prohibit human access besides guards will be deployed at the entry routes to ensure there's no trespassing," said Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, DFO, Saba Alam.
The forester said that the tiger has been wandering in the core area, which is spread across 40 sq km, for the past four weeks and in the same period of time the tiger has killed several animals including the cattles of Dalma Shiv Mandir Goshala.
Further, the DFO has said that 11 temporary check-posts have been activated across the surroundings of the hilly forest besides forest guards have been stationed at all 17 entry points to the forest.
The security personnel at the check-posts will do the checking of the vehicles besides frisking of the hunting hoppers will be done to stop them from carrying hunting tools, nets, traps, ropes, explosives and modern sophisticated arms to the forest.
A total of 150 forest guards and over 100 volunteers of Van Raksha Samiti (VRS) will regulate the crowd movement while police and magistrates will supervise the overall operation.
The enthusiasts will congregate at Makulakocha, at the foothills of Dalma, on Sunday evening and observe special prayers.
Following that the crowd will take part in cultural song and dance and then disperse to the forest to target the animals in the pre-dawn hours on Monday.
"We have appealed to people to come with the traditional bow and arrow to observe the ritual," said Dalma Raja, Rakesh Hembram, whose outfit Dalma Buru Sendra Samiti (DBSS) organizes the animal husting festival every year.
He has said that sendra veers (hunters) have been advised not to kill the wild animals as this would harm the wildlife.
"Observe the rituals, learn the art of shooting and enjoy the colourful gathering," said Dalma Raja in his message to the people attending the festival.