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| Hilarious and sarcastic retarding truth! |
Last week I went to the Bandipur National Park. It is situated 80 kilometres away from Mysore in Karnataka, lies on the outskirts of Mysore-Ooty highway. Are covered around 874 sq.km and it plays an important part in climate in Western Ghats region. We arrived Bandipur at 5 o' clock morning. It was shivering morning and only hopes to dodge the chillness was the fire.
Bandipur is known for the tiger reserve. There are very few tiger in the regions left around 150. The area is well flourished with the flora and fauna. Have to say it was so abysmal feeling in morning. Soon, after 3 hours weather was getting lighter with every ray of sunlight. We waited outside the Director's office. In the mean time we roamed around the park, captured few moments and wished it never ends. They charge you Rs 300 for Safari ride and for the foreigners Rs 1000. One thing I would like to make clear about National Park and Wild Life Sanctuary, people really get confused as they think the purpose for both of them is same i.e. to protect the endangered species.The Wild life Santuary is a abode for all kinds of wild animals. There is no defined boundary in the sanctuary so anyone can enter. Whereas National Park mainly focuses on the endangered species, it has defined boundary and people need special permission for roaming in the jungle.
There are several important activities which takes place like patrolling, making Fire-Line, Fire watch Guard, Jungle Safari, Elephant Ride etc. The Forest range officers give more priority in monitoring tiger movement so for that they have fixed around 45 anti-poaching cameras. The 4-5 members do surveillance daily. There are around 600 workers working in that around 325 have the permanent job.
The main focal point of visiting there was to observe the dress and uniforms of the forest range workers. It was simple Khaki uniform which is quite a mundane in the Indian government service. They are given a walkie-talkie and torch. The Rifle and sharp knife is provided for the protection as they have to go deep in the jungle.
The prime enemy is poachers who kills the tiger for their skin. But now days its very rare to find tiger. The jungle also has important ornament which attracts the smugglers which is Santalum album V or Sandal Wood. So, it is still a prime concern. The workers have to work late night and poor visibility can inhibit them in their work. So, the scothlite fabric can be used for the garment for good visibility.
The walkie-takie placement is also important because it is used frequently. The placement should be kept firm around waist area , when not in use as they have to free their hand.. The officers have come with jugaad. They tuck the wireless on the side of the belt. But here I feel that there should be a firm band nearby the waist region in ergonomically viable way. There should be a big flap around the ankle region so that it doesn't get pricked by the thorns. Of course, garment shall thy be reversible. A round zipper can be placed on the knee region so that workers can take out whenever they feel uncomfortable in hot and humid weather or when they crossing the water-ways with barefoot. Albeit the snake is not so big problem and there haven't been any severe incident of the snake bite in last two decades but still the dreadful image of venom shatter their mind. The most vulnerable area is ankle so the ankle guard can be placed in the region. This can psychologically enhance the confidence in the minds of workers or at least it assuage the vulnerability of snake bite.
