OTHER DEPARTMENTS

FOREST DEPARTMENT

Organisation.

The Chief Conservator of Forests is the head of the Forest department in the State with headquarters at Pune. For administrative purposes, the State is divided into seven circles as shown below: —

Each circle is headed by a Conservator of Forests. The Conservators have under them Divisional Forest Officers and Sub-Divisional Forest Officers, to look after the administration of the divisions and independent sub-divisions, respectively. The Divisional Forest Officers belong to Maharashtra Forest Service, Class I and the Sub-Divisional Forest Officers to Maharashtra Forest Service, Class II. The divisions in some cases are divided into sub-divisions which are incharge of Sub-Divisional Forest Officers. The divisions or sub-divisions as the case may be, are divided into small executive parts called ranges and each range is managed by a Range Forest Officer under the control of the Divisional Forest Officer or the Sub-Divisional Forest Officer as the case may be. The Range Forest Officer is a non-gazetted subordinate officer (Class III) who is usually trained at one of the Indian Forest Rangers' Colleges of India, i.e., those at Dehra Dun and Coimbatore. Each range is sub-divided into rounds and each round is managed by a Round Officer or a Forester or a Range Assistant who is usually trained at one of the Forest Classes in the State. Finally each round is sub-divided into beats and each beat is incharge of a Beat Guard. The beat is the smallest unit of forest for the purpose of forest administration and protection.

Yeotmal district falls under the jurisdiction of Amravati Circle. It comprises two forest divisions, viz., East Yeotmal Division and West Yeotmal Division. These two divisions are divided into following sub-divisions and ranges: —

The two forest divisions are co-terminous with the limits of Yeotmal civil district. The forests of Yeotmal district extend over an area of 1212.99 km.² of which 1140.04 km.² are under Reserved forest while the protected forests extend over 72.95 km.² The forests in the district He well distributed except in the northern portions.

Functions.

The main functions of the Forest department are exploitation, regeneration and protection of forests according to sanctioned working plan and other orders, and conducting sales, entering, into contracts and supply of material to Government departments and the public. In addition, a number of schemes under Five-Year Plans are executed by this department.

The Revenue and Forests departments are closely inter-connected in their work. Working plans for the management and development of forests are prepared solely by the Forest department, but so far as the prescriptions of the working plan affect the local needs, rights and privileges of the inhabitants of the district, the approval of the Collector concerned has to be obtained before they are submitted to the Government by the Chief Conservator of Forests for sanction.

Divisional Forest Officer.

The Divisional Forest Officer is directly responsible for the exploitation and regeneration of the forests according to the sanctioned working plan and other orders. He conducts sales, enters into contracts, supplies material to the public, realises revenue and controls expenditure under instructions from the Conservator of Forests. In short, he is responsible for forest administration and management in all matters relating to technical forest operations.

Sub-Divisional Forest Officer.

The duties of the Sub-Divisional Forest Officer incharge of an independent sub-division are exactly the same as those of Divisional Forest Officer, while the Assistant Conservator of Forests or Sub-Divisional Forest Officer attached to the division, assists the Divisional Forest Officer in the proper enforcement of the prescriptions of the sanctioned working plan and execution of various works connected with it by supervision of various silvicultural works requiring technical knowledge besides attending to other duties entrusted by the Divisional Forest Officer. The Sub-Divisional Forest Officer deals finally with forest offence cases having power to compound the same. There are two Sub-Divisional Forest Officers attached to each of the two divisions in the district.

Range Forest Officer.

The Range Forest Officer is in executive charge of his range. He is responsible for carrying out with the assistance of Range Assistants and Beat Guards, and according to the orders of the Divisional Forest Officer and Assistant Conservator of Forests or Sub-Divisional Forest Officer, all works in his charge as per the annual plan of operation, such as marking for main-felling, thinning, felling of trees departmentally for various purposes; transport of timber, fuel, etc., to the sale depot; all plantation works such as sowing, planting, tending and other silvicultural operations; maintenance of nurseries; construction of roads, buildings and wells according to the sanctioned plans and estimates and their annual repairs; protection of forests and investigation of forest offences; supervision on removal of forest produce by purchasers and by holders of rights and privileges; general supervision of the working of the forest labourers' co-operative societies and rendering them all help in technical matters.

Round Officer.

The Forester's duties include the supervision of the silvicultural and conservancy works; protection of forests, detection and investigation of forest offences: issue of forest transit passes and permits; collection of revenue from permits and compensation in offence cases; supervision and control on extraction of produce in contractors' coupes and supervision of the work of the Forest Guards. Some foresters who work as coupe agents to the forest labourers' co-operative societies have to supervise the coupe working of the societies; render guidance in technical matters, maintain proper accounts of the timber out-turn and all other works in so far as they relate to working of the coupe.

The Forest Guards functions are to patrol and protect all forests in his beat and to carry out all works pertaining to their proper maintenance such as repairs and maintenance of forest boundary marks, execution of silvicultural works, viz., sowing, planting and climber cutting and to detect forest offences.

Plan Schemes.

Under the Third Five-Year Plan Schemes, the following development works have been carried out: —

(1) Scheme for establishment of wet nurseries:—The scheme envisages the raising of nurseries for supply of seedlings for department plantations and for distribution to the public for vana mahotsava. Till the end of the Third Five-Year Plan two nurseries, each spread over two acres, were established at a cost of Rs. 32,723. The scheme has been continued in the Fourth Five-Year Plan with the target of establishing two central nurseries with an area of 10 acres at an estimated cost of Rs. 2.14 lakhs.

(2) Scheme for development of minor forest produce:—The object of this scheme is to develop minor forest produce such as lac, agave, bamboo, etc., so that resources are built up to serve as base for industry and employment.

During the Third Five-Year Plan period, bamboo plantation was extended to 520 acres. The work is carried over to the Fourth Five-Year Plan with a physical target of 2,000 acres at an estimated cost Rs. 2 lakhs. Plantation of agave was carried over an area of 15 sq. miles at the cost of Rs. 8,052. The scheme for establishment of lac farms has been dropped.

(3) Scheme for plantation of valuable tree species: —The object of the scheme is to improve the potential value of the State forests by undertaking plantation of valuable tree species such as teak and semal. During the Third Five-Year Plan period the plantation was completed in 1,450 acres at a cost of Rs. 2,24,305. The scheme has been continued in the Fourth Five-Year Plan with the physical target of 6,000 acres at an estimated cost of Rs. 15 lakhs.

(4) Scheme for creation of fuel and fodder reserves: —The object of the scheme is to raise plantations of fuel trees such as babul and khair nearabout township for supply of fuel to towns. During the Third Five-Year Plan period plantation was carried over 125 acres at a cost of Rs. 11,876. The scheme has been continued in the Fourth Five-Year Plan with the physical target of 500 acres at an estimated cost of Rs. 1.50 lakhs.

(5) Improvement of grazing pasture.—The object of the scheme is to arrest the deterioration and promote development of forest pastures by means of fencing, contour-trenching and artificial replacement with superior fodder growth. During the Third Five-Year Plan period plantation was extended to 375 acres and fencing to 938 acres. The scheme has been continued in the Fourth Five-Year Plan with the physical target of 3,000 acres at an estimated cost of Rs. 9 lakhs.

(6) Scheme for forest communications.—The object of the scheme is to provide communications so as to enable the exploitation and development of inaccessible forests. The physical achievements during the Third Five-Year Plan period are as under: —

The schemes have been continued under the Fourth Five-Year Plan envisaging a financial target of Rs. 10 lakhs.

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