By Deputy Commissione
Copyright thehindu
Tributes were paid to Forest Department personnel who died while engaged in conservation works, during the National Forest Martyrs Day, observed on Thursday.
The main event in Mysuru was held at the Forest Department premises in Ashokapuram where a memorial for forest martyrs has also been constructed.
Wreaths were placed at the memorial by Deputy Commissioner G. Lakshmikanth Reddy who extolled the contributions of the Forest Department personnel in conservation of forests and wildlife.
Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) Paramesh read out the names of 62 personnel who have died in Karnataka since the last 58 years and recalled the challenges and trying conditions under which the forest personnel function.
The forest personnel were urged to draw inspiration from their sacrifices and remain steadfast and committed in conservation efforts. The authorities recalled the sacrifices of a few including DCF P. Srinivas who was beheaded by forest brigand Veerappan in the 1990s, and DCF Manikandan who was trampled by a wild elephant while inspecting damage caused by forest fire in Nagarahole, on March 3rd, 2018.
Three rounds were fired in air as a mark of respect for the forest martyrs and silence observed to commemorate their memory.
The Government of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in 2013, declared September 11 as National Forest Martyrs Day the objective of which is to pay homage to those who laid down their lives while protecting forests and wildlife, and to commemorate their sacrifices across the country.
The date – September 11– is also significant as it was on this day in 1730 that soldiers of maharaja Abhay Singh of Jodhpur massacred 363 men, women, and children of the Bishnoi community when they protested the felling of Kejri trees and tried to save them in the Kejarali province. Hence, the Indian government zeroed in on this date to pay homage to forest martyrs.
