Wildlife Crime Bureau to strengthen its regional offices

New Delhi, Aug 13 (UNI) The National Wildlife Crime Control Bureau today decided to strengthen its regional offices by filling up vacant posts and providing infrastructure.

The Bureau was set up this year on the recommendations of the Task Force on Tiger set up by the Prime Minister following reports that no tigers were left in the Sariska Reserve in Rajasthan.

The Regional Deputy Directors of Wildlife Preservation and Officers of the Wildlife Wing today reviewed the progress of the newly created Bureau.

They decided that till a full time Officer was appointed, Regional Deputy Director (WR) will look after the functioning of the newly - created office at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.

Out of six posts of Assistant Directors, three will be posted at Sub-Regional Offices and three will be posted at Headquarters. Out of these six posts, two will be selected from Police and four from Forests.

Eighteen posts of Inspectors will also be filled. Regional Offices at Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai will have two persons each and New Delhi and Jabalpur, one each.

Three Sub-Regional Offices as well as Five Border Stations will have one Inspector and one Person respectively. Headquarter will have two Inspectors.

The jurisdiction of Regional Offices also has been defined.

Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Regional Office (WCCB-RO), Mumbai, will look after Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Daman and Diu and Dadara and Nagar Haveli. WCCB-RO, Delhi, will cover Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi. WCCB-RO, Kolkata, will cover Bihar, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and West Bengal. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry are under WCCB-RO, Chennai.

Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa will fall under jurisdiction of the new Office of WCCB-RO Jabalpur at Madhya Pradesh, Pubjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh, under WCCB- Sub-RO, Amritsar, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur under WCCB- Sub-RO and Guwahati and Kerala, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands will fall under WCCB- Sub-RO, Cochin.

These Offices will assist and advise Custom Authorities in the inspection of consignments of flora and fauna as per the provisions of Wildlife (Protection) Act, CITES and Exim Policy.

They will collect and collate intelligence related to organised wildlife crime activities and disseminate them to State and other enforcement agencies for immediate action.

The regional offices will develop infrastructure and capacity building for scientific and professional investigation into wildlife crimes. They will also assist State Governments to ensure success in prosecutions related to wildlife crime.

UNI