Pilibhit: Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR), which is facing a staff shortage, now has only one ranger to manage the forest. Three of its five range officers have been transferred while one retired last month. These posts are yet to be filled.According to deputy director of PTR Adarsh Kumar, the range officer of Deuria, GP Pandey, retired from service on October 31. Range officer Giriraj Singh was transferred from Mahof range of PTR to Mahrajganj district while RK Sharma was shifted from Haripur range to Saharanpur. Chandra Bhal, range officer of Barahi forest range, was shifted to Kanpur zoo. The transfer orders were received a few day ago.Now, only Mala range officer Dilip Shivastav is in PTR.Asked about other field forest force, Kumar said PTR presently has six deputy range officers as against eight approved posts, 35 forest inspectors as against 50 sanctioned posts while of the 52 posts of forest guards, 33 are vacant. Due to the persisting shortage of field forest force, PTR lacks quick response teams to deal with man-tiger conflict, he said.The reserve has been witness to 26 killings of villagers in and around the forest in the past two years. Of these, 16 occurred during sugarcane harvesting season. Of these, 13 people were killed by tigers in agricultural belts amid standing cane crop.This year, cultivated area under sugarcane has increased from last year’s 87,787 hectares to 1,05,558 hectares. The expansion has taken place mostly in the areas adjoining PTR. Therefore, instances of man-tiger conflict are likely to increase.To cope with this situation, state forest administration had constituted quick response teams (ORT) to conduct rescue operations and monitor big cat movement. However, in the absence of senior field officers, the situation appears to be grim.

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