Maharashtra declares all forest beats ‘highly sensitive’
* Maharashtra Government issues new guidelines for forest protection laying down the duties and responsibilities of officers to field-level staff By Kartik Lokhande After a long gap of over 11 years, Maharashtra Government has decided to revise the forest protection guidelines. Accordingly, it has declared all the forest beats as ‘highly sensitive’ areas and has laid down in detail duties and responsibilities of Forest Department officers as well as field-level staff. The forest protection guidelines were last issued in the year 2003. Since then, several changes took place in the forest management. Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act was passed in 2006 granting forest rights to traditional forest dwellers in various parts of the country. Besides, certain notifications pertaining to Indian Forest Act and Wildlife Protection Act were issued in the year 2013. Against this backdrop, said a Forest Department officer...