Middle Andaman Forest Department

Eco
Restoration

Plantation
Reclamation

Cane
Overlapping

NTFP
Overlapping

Eco-tourism
Overlapping

Protection

ROADS &
BUILDINGS

Others

ECO-RESTORATION WORKING CIRCLE

In this working circle, the already converted forest area is brought back to its natural profile through silvicultural intervention in consistence with biodiversity conservation, National Forest Policy with Hon’ble Supreme Court’s Order. The total area in this working circle is 25251.4 Ha., which constitutes 29.46% of forest area of the division. The entire area has been divided into three eco-restoration felling series as Kadamtala FS-I(area- 8005.5 Ha.), Bakultala FS-II(area 7074.6 Ha.) and Betapur FS-III(area 10171.3 Ha.) with 10 annual coupes for each felling series. Presently, the eco-restoration works are being carried out in Kadamtala Felling Series-I.

1.WORKS PRESCRIBED
As per Working Plan of this Division in force, this division had to carry out following operations in Kadamtala Felling Series-I during the year 2014-2015:
i. Carrying out harvesting of trees from Coupe No.-VI in an area of 800.5 Ha.
ii. Carrying out first year eco-restoration operation of Coupe No.-V (Area-800.5 Ha.), which includes survey, demarcation, laying I/path, soil conservation works, cleaning & climber cutting and dibbling of seeds of deficient species.
iii. Carrying out second year eco-restoration operation in Coupe No.-IV (Area-800.5 Ha.), which includes weeding, cleaning, climber cutting, enrichment planting, broadcasting & dibbling of seeds of deficient species.
iv. Carrying out third year eco-restoration operation in Coupe No.-III (Area-800.5 Ha.), which includes weeding, cleaning, climber cutting, casualty beating filling up of the gaps, cleaning of inspection paths.
. Carrying out fourth year eco-restoration operation in Coupe No.-II (Area-800.5 Ha.), which includes cleaning, weeding, climber cutting and enumeration of the final result of the eco-restoration operation.weeding, climber cutting and enumeration of the final result of the eco-restoration operation.weeding, climber cutting and enumeration of the final result of the eco-restoration operation.

2.WORKS CARRIED OUT
Presently, timber harvesting is being carried out in Coupe No.-IV, V & VI under Bajalungta Range of Kadamtala Felling Series-I(ERWC). The timber harvesting of Coupe-IV (Div-2 & Div-3) was entrusted to ANIFPDC by signing an agreement with them and Coupe-IV (Div-1 & Div-4), Coupe-V and Coupe-VI is being operated departmentally.
Details of the same is furnished below coupewise:

COUPE-IV

SI No.	Coupe-IV	Forest Dept.	ANIFPDC Ltd.		Forest Dept.	Total (Div-1 to Div-4)
SI No.	Coupe-IV	Div-1	Div-2	Div-3	Div-4	Total (Div-1 to Div-4)
1	Total trees marked (in Nos.)	187	271	350	569	1377
2	Volume marked for felling (in Cbm)	1123.26	1001.98	1212.51	1527.70	4865.45
3	Area of coupe (in Ha.)	210.50	180.20	121.80	288.00	800.50
4	Starting date of felling	03.02.14	17.02.14	21.08.13	25.09.13

Extraction during the financial year 2013-14 : 3545 logs - 3241.180 cbm.
Extraction during the financial year 2014-15: 950 Logs – 1017.090 Cbm

COUPE-V

SI NO.	Coupe-V	Forest Dept.			Total (Div-1 to Div-3)
SI NO.	Coupe-V	Div-1	Div-2	Div-3	Total (Div-1 to Div-3)
1	Total trees marked (in Nos.)	429	778	545	1752
2	Volume marked for felling (in Cbm)	1815.21	3090.01	2335.03	7240.25
3	Area of coupe (in Ha.)	244.00	356.50	200.00	800.50
4	Starting date of felling	01.08.14	10.10.14	01.08.14

Extraction during the financial year 2014-15: 4918 Logs – 4850.860 Cbm
Extraction during the financial year 2015-16 upto Nov. 2015 : 748 logs - 722.045 cbm.

COUPE-VI

SI NO.	Coupe-VI	Forest Dept.			Total (Div-1 to Div-3)
SI NO.	Coupe-VI	Div-1	Div-2	Div-3	Total (Div-1 to Div-3)
1	Total trees marked (in Nos.)	460	449	516	1425
2	Volume marked for felling (in Cbm)	1522.93	1349.01	1301.63	4173.57
3	Area of coupe (in Ha.)	290.50	220.00	290.00	800.50
4	Starting date of felling	01.12.14	09.01.15

Extraction during the financial year 2014-15: 725 Logs – 700.082 Cbm
Extraction during the financial year 2015-16 upto Nov. 2015 : 2434 logs - 2262.845 cbm.

In addition to the above following ERWC operations were carried out during the year 2014-15:
i.Carried out 1st year eco-restoration operation in Coupe-II, III & IV in an area of 934 Ha. under Bajalungta Range with an expenditure of Rs. 8,45,148/-. Survey, demarcation, soil conservation work, climber cutting, dibbling & broadcasting of seeds were done as part of first year eco-restoration work of the area.
ii.2nd year eco-restoration operation was done under Bajalungta Range in an area of 426 Ha.(Coupe-II &III) with an expenditure of Rs. 2,11,904/-. Various species were planted as gap filling. Dibbling & broadcasting of seeds were also done.
iii.3rd year eco-restoration work was carried out in an area of 400 Ha.(Coupe-II & III) under Bajalungta Range with an expenditure of Rs. 2,01,510/-. Gap filling, cleaning of brushwood and climber cuttings were done.
iv.4th year eco-restoration operations was carried out under Bajalungta Range in an area of 350 Ha.(Coupe-II & III) with an expenditure of Rs. 2,07,264/-. Cleaning, weeding and climber cuttings were done.

3.DEVIATION
The area of an annual coupe is 800.5 Ha. which is very huge for timber harvesting due to its accessibility, geography and availability of infrastructure and manpower. Hence, it takes more years to complete the extraction from even a single coupe. As a result, there was delay in eco-restoration works/ timber harvesting in subsequent Coupes. This has lead to deviation of the prescriptions of working plan.

4.SUGGESTION
Keeping in view of the above facts, an area of 300 Ha. per year is ideal for timber harvesting in these areas alongwith provision of sufficient funds, manpower and infrastructure for carrying out the operation in time.

REFERENCES:

Document from Divisional Forest Office, Middle Andaman

PLANTATION RECLAMATION WORKING CIRCLE

In this Working Circle, monoculture plantation of various species that were raised in past, is phased out on attaining maturity/ rotation period in order to bring back the area closer to its natural profile. The total area in this working circle is 3730.4 Ha. exclusive of 60 Ha. now falling under Jarawa reserve, which constitutes 4.35% of total forest area of this division. The entire plantation area of the division has been divided into 10 annual coupes.

1.WORKS PRESCRIBED
As per Working Plan of this Division in force, this division had to carry out the following eco-restoration works during the year 2014-2015 –
i. Carrying out first year operation of Coupe No.-VIII (Area- 372.60 Ha.) which includes survey, demarcation of Coupe area, marking of trees for silvicultural thinning and thinning operations.
ii. 2nd year operation of Coupe No.-VII (Area- 393.90 Ha.), which includes digging of 30 cm3 pits at 4x4 mtrs. espacement, planting of tall nursery raised seedlings/ wildings and cleaning/ climber cutting & mulching.
iii. Carrying out 3rd year operation in Coupe No.-VI (Area- 385.10 Ha.), which includes replacement of dead seedlings, cleaning and climber cutting.
iv. Carrying out 4th year operation in Coupe No.-V (Area- 372.80 Ha.), which includes cleaning/ climber cuttings.

2.WORKS CARRIED OUT
The details of eco-restoration works carried out by this division during the year 2014-2015 are as follows -
1st year operation was carried out in 281.90 Ha in coupe No. VIII under Bakultala Range with an expenditure of Rs. 22, 54,563/- which includes Survey & demarcation, marking of trees, thinning operation, dragging, logging and transportation.
2nd year operation was carried out in 329 Ha in coupe No. VII under Bakultala Range with an expenditure of Rs. 16,66,038/- which includes digging of pit and planting of tall nursery; raised seedlings / wildling, cleaning / climber cutting.
3rd year operation was carried out in 268 Ha in coupe No. VI under Bakultala Range with an expenditure of Rs.7,27,202/- which includes casualty replacement, cleaning / climber cutting etc.
4th year operation was carried out in 150 Ha in coupe No. V under Bakultala Range with an expenditure of Rs.1,60,000/- which includes cleaning / climber cutting etc.

THE DETAILS OF TIMBER PRODUCED FROM THINNING OPERATION (PRWC) (AS ON 31.03.2015)

SI NO.	Coupe No.	Area of Coupe in Ha.	Progress of Thinning		Details of Timber Produced
SI NO.	Coupe No.	Area of Coupe in Ha.	No. of trees/ poles marked	No. of trees/ poles removed	Less than 20	20-45	46-59	60-99	100 & above
1	IV	107.50	13534	3657	10	1117	625-38.801	1853-254.745	287-95.226
2	V	173.90	9805	4272	0	1925	1439-96.488	1300-159.992	22-6.838
3	VI	244.20	8823	1627	0	384	288-17.990	418-52.841	47-12.142
4	VII	329.10	24389	9364	0	1618	2147-129.832	4700-554.621	272-77.894
5	VIII	281.90	10720	1706	0	155	194-11.347	209-24.216	19-5.651

3.DEVIATION
As per the Working Plan, which is applicable for the period from 01.04.2005 to 31.03.2015, the thinning operation in Coupe-I should have started from the year 2005-2006 but, the same was delayed due to various reasons viz. non-availability of infrastructure, manpower, high rainfall, presence of big nallahs, absence of tramways which existed earlier, large scattered inaccessible areas and distance from road being 3- 4.5 kms and hence the delay in the thinning of Coupe-I leads to delay in the thinning operations of subsequent coupes.

4.SUGGESTION
Infrastructure, manpower and adequate funds are required to carry out the operations in the subsequent coupes annually.

REFERENCES:

Document from Divisional Forest Office, Middle Andaman

CANE OVERLAPPING WORKING CIRCLE

In this working circle, various species of canes are planted to meet out the needs/ demands of local population and several depending small scale industries. This working circle extends to whole of eco-restoration working circle as it is an overlapping working circle. The total area under this working circle is 25251.4 Ha. consisting of 8005.5 Ha. in Kadamtala FS-I, 7074.6 Ha. in Bakultala FS-II and 10171.3 Ha. in Betapur FS-III.

1.OBJECTIVES
a) To provide for scientific management augmenting production of canes and its collection on a sustained basis.
b) To cater to the genuine needs of cane based small scale industries, handicrafts units and local inhabitants with minimum disturbance to the natural forests.

2.WORKS CARRIED OUT
a) During the year 2014-15, cane seedlings of calamus andamanicus (Mota cane) and calamus pseudorivalis (malai cane) from nursery stock were planted at an espacement of 3m by 3m. Plantation boards showing the area and year of plantation were also placed at prominent places with fire protection measures. Fencing was provided wherever necessary for effective protection from cattles and pigs. During the year 2014-15; 50 Ha of cane plantations were carried out in the division with an expenditure of Rs.5,00,000/- (approx.)
b) During the year; 60 Ha of tending of 1st and 2nd year cane plantations were carried out with an expenditure ofRs. 4,60,000/-
c) The details of cane issued to various user agencies/ Individuals during the year 2014-15 are given below(in nos.):

SI NO.	Particulars	Mota cane	Jungle cane	Malai cane	Red cane
1	Public	64,630	34,006	71,585	10,500
2	SSi Units	52,200	43,500	11,600	0
3	Govt. Dept.	550	0	3,340	0

3.DEVIATION
a) The cane was extracted for the departmental use as well as for the use of general public and for the SSI units. All the cane species were extracted well within the prescribed permissible limits and the same is reflected in the control form. Hence, there is no deviation.
b) As per the prescriptions of Working Plan, the Cane potential area has been divided into 10 annual coupes and one coupe will remain in operation annually during this working plan period at 10 years’ cutting cycle. Whereas due to practical reasons the annual cut area of 335 Ha. is being operated in three Ranges namely Betapur, Bakultala and Bajalungta.

REFERENCES:

Document from Divisional Forest Office, Middle Andaman

NON TIMBER FOREST PRODUCT OVERLAPPING WORKING CIRCLE

This is an overlapping working circle and extends to whole of eco-restoration working circle. The total area under this working circle is 25251.4 Ha. consisting of 8005.5 Ha., 7074.6 Ha. and 10171.3 Ha. in Kadamtala, Bakultala and Betapur Felling Series respectively.

1.OBJECTIVES
The main objective of this working circle is to augment the production of NTFP and its collection on a sustained basis to cater to the genuine needs of small scale units and local population in general with minimum disturbance to the natural forests.

2.WORKS CARRIED OUT
During the year, the division has carried out following plantations:
i.Raising of bamboo plantations in 10 Ha were carried out with an expenditure of Rs.2,00,000/- (approx.)
ii.Maintenance of 1st and 2nd year bamboo plantations were carried out in 10 Ha with an expenditure of Rs. 1,50,000/- (approx.)
iii.Raising of poles, ballies and thaching leaves were also carried out in 20 Ha with an expenditure of Rs. 1,40,000/- (approx.)
iv.In addition to the above; maintenance of poles, ballies and thaching leaves were carried out in 30 Ha with an expenditure of Rs. 1,50,000/- (approx.)

Bamboo plantation is also being taken-up in reworked areas. Introduced bamboos are cultivated and promoted in non-forest areas and roadside areas. Field observations shows that regeneration of bamboos in reworked areas, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests is not successful as in the forest, bamboo requires 70% opening of canopy.

Further, to meet the domestic needs of local population, permits are being issued to the local population to harvest bamboo, thatching leaves etc. on scientific lines. During the year, fuel-woods were harvested from the branches, lops & tops, wasted timber in timber harvested areas under ERWC and PRWC. Fuel-wood is sold to the local inhabitants through departmental sale depots functioning in all the Range HQs. Ballies and posts are harvested from thinning areas under PRWC.

The details of supplies made to various user agencies are given below:

SI NO.	Particulars	Public	SSI Units	Govt. Dept.
1	Bamboo	1,37,300 Nos.	1000 Nos.	13,780 Nos.
2	Jungle ballies	10,359 Nos.	0	180 Nos.
3	Thaching leaves	4,63,900 Nos.	0	10,600 Nos.
4	Fire wood	802 Cbm.	0	0
5	Jungle post	3,257 Nos.	0	0
6	Teak poles	282 Nos.	0	0
7	Teak undergirth	453.681 Cbm	0	0
8	Fencing ballies	0	0	300 Nos.
9	Sawn fuel	504.75 Cbm	0	0.25 Cbm
10	Saw dust	1265 Cbm	0	0

3.DEVIATION
NTFP is one of the major requirements for the construction & maintenance of houses and for manufacturing handicrafts. During the year 2014-2015, NTFPs were harvested well within the yearly prescribed limit. Hence, there is no deviation from the prescriptions of the working plan.

4.GENERAL NOTES
Non-Timber Forest Produce is of high demand from the general public and SSI units. Permits are issued for collection of NTFP on realization of royalty from the applicants and SSI units. The quantity is issued as per the prescription of Working Plan in force. Every year permits are issued for the collection of thatching leaves, bamboos and canes.

Fifteen Gram Panchayats falls within this Division jurisdiction. They are Basantipur, Harinagar, Swadesh Nagar, Shivapuram, Nimbutala, Dasarathpur, Rangat, Parnashala, Sabari, Bakultala, Urmilapur, Kaushlyanagar, Kadamtala, Uttara and Long Island. These Gram Panchayats are thickly populated and there is huge demand for posts and ballies. The locals prefer teak posts instead of jungle posts. The supply of Teak posts is maintained from the thinning areas of Bakultala Range and ballies from the felling area of Bajalungta Range.

Moreover, there is huge demand of canes from the 35 registered cane units functioning under this Division apart from the local peoples. Out of this, 25 cane units are functioning in Betapur Range. As per the working plan, the area for collection of cane to fulfill the needs of the existing cane units are in far flung areas from the establishments of the units. The units functioning under Betapur Range have to collect canes from Kadamtala and Bakultala areas.

REFERENCES:

Document from Divisional Forest Office, Middle Andaman

ECO TOURISM OVERLAPPING WORKING CIRCLE

1.OBJECTIVES
The main objective of this working circle is to promote high value, low volume, specialized eco-tourism that can be done with minimal infrastructure and follows the principles of dispersion and flexibility. Mother Nature has endowed these Islands with rich biodiversity with very high degree of endemism. The pristine beauty of these Islands in the form of lush green tropical forests, untouched virgin beaches coupled with unique marine ecosystem attracts the tourists from different parts of India and abroad.

These Islands have dense tropical forests of all types ranging from tidal swamp forests to evergreen forests. It has beautiful virgin silvery beaches along its coasts at Aamkunj, Dhaninallah, Cuthbert Bay, Lalaji Bay, Guitar Island and Merk Bay. Cruising through the creek at Yerrata and the sunset view from Long Island can attract any nature lover to these places. Guitar Island and Lalaji Bay give excellent opportunity for coral viewing. Long Island is also a paradise for birding. Cuthbert Bay known for the nesting ground for Olive Ridley Turtles is another attractive feature of the division which attracts the eco-friendly tourists towards this site.

2.WORKS CARRIED OUT
The details of works carried out during the year 2014-2015 is furnished below–
i) During the year, repair & maintenance of eco-huts and other facilities at Dhaninallah were carried out. Construction of eco-tourism huts and cottage at Dhaninallah was undertaken which is approximately 80% completed; the remaining part is being completed during the year 2015-16 as spill over work.
ii) Renovation work of Mangrove bench walk was carried out at Yeratta, Rangat.
iii) Construction of changing room with toilet facility and sitting space at Merk Bay, Long Island for VIP visit was carried out during the year.

3.DEVIATION
No deviations.

REFERENCES:

Document from Divisional Forest Office, Middle Andaman

PROTECTION WORKING CIRCLE

The presence of nearly 90% of forests, scattered islands and difficult topography with nallah, creeks, hilltops having valuable forest, marine & wildlife resources makes the protection duties very challenging. However, regular protection is being carried out in this division to protect the un-worked natural forests, hill slops, catchment banks of perennial streams and nallah, water reservoirs, rugged terrain, coastal tracts etc. from illicit felling, encroachments and soil erosion.

Total area under this working circle is 40195.99 Ha. which overlaps on Wildlife sanctuary also. During the dry season, fire prone areas of the working circle are protected from fire hazards. Provisions of IFA and W(P)A, other Acts and Rules in force were also strictly enforced. During the year 42 cases under IFA and 11 cases under WL(P) Act were detected and booked under relevant sections. Moreover, in order to protect the coastal areas from natural calamities like tsunami/ cyclones etc., coastal-belt plantations were raised in various places.

SI NO.	Particular	Area	Amount
1	Coastal belt plantations were carried out at Long Island	02 ha	Rs. 2,49,936/-
2	Maintenance of previous year coastal belt plantation at Long Island	2 ha	Rs. 1,49,860/-

WILDLIFE PROTECTION WORKING CIRCLE

Maximum protection is being given to wildlife & its habitat by strictly enforcing the legal provisions of Wildlife(Protection) Act, 1972. Total area under this working circle is 2493 Ha. including Mangrove forest overlapping with mangrove conservation working circle and tribal reserve area of Flat Island falls within the jurisdiction of this division.
During the year, 11 cases of violation of W(P)A, 1972 were detected and the persons involved in the offence were booked under the relevant sections of W(P)A, 1972.

GENERAL PROTECTION OF FORESTS: NOTES ON DEER BROWSING AND ITS CONTROL AND GRAZING, FIRES, FOREST OFFENCES, ENCROACHMENTS, CYCLONES, EARTHQUAKES, FLOODS ETC.

Fire lines free from inflammable materials have been maintained all along the plantation. Especially during summer season preventive measures were taken. During the year 2014-2015, no incidence of forest fire occurred in this division. Bamboo fence have been done all along the plantation to prevent cattle from grazing into the forests. Deer browsing is also a common problem in almost all the forest areas of the division, which adversely affect the regeneration of forest especially in ERWC & PRWC.
Regular patrolling of forest officials is also being done to prevent encroachments in the forest and also to protect the huge natural resources in the form of Forest & Wildlife. Joint patrolling is also being done by the staffs and beat assistants of the adjacent Beats.
In the past, forest offences was very less when compared to now as the population was very less. Presently the population as well as the number of vehicles have increased manifold and the crimes have also increased at the same pace. To reach the sites in time and to intercept or chase any vehicles with suspected illegal forest produce, no vehicles are provided with the front line field executives. Trucks which are in the stage of write off, is being run to check any offence which has its own innumerable limitations. Hence, transport and communication facilities to the field staff are to be improved on priority basis. During the year 42 cases under IFA and 11 cases under WL(P) Act were detected and booked under relevant sections.

REFERENCES:

Document from Divisional Forest Office, Middle Andaman

ROADS & BUILDINGS: GENERAL CONDITION OF THE BUILDINGS, COST OF CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE, SUGGESTION FOR IMPROVEMENT AND NEW WORKS SUCH AS NECESSITY FOR FEEDER ROADS ETC.

Buildings especially Govt. accommodations are in very poor conditions as no works and new constructions were taken up in a major way since several years. All the Govt. accommodations are very old and under repair which had not been attended seriously for several years. Most of the residential accommodations are in very bad shape and require immediate repair works, especially replacement of roof with GI sheets and provision of toilets. Due to shortage of funds, painting has not been done to the wooden quarters in most of the Ranges for the last several years because of which quarters are getting prematurely deteriorated. However, details of construction work and petty repair works undertaken by this Division during the year 2014-2015 are as follows-

1.BETAPUR RANGE
Construction of eco-tourism huts and cottage at Dhaninallah which is 80% completed during the year 2014-15 and remaining part is being completed during the current financial year 2015-16.

2.RANGAT RANGE
1.Providing PVC coated GI wire mesh fencing over cement concrete wall in front of Mithila residential complex under rangat range (Spill Over Work).
2.Providing PVC coated GI wire mesh fencing around Range Office and residence of Range Officer, Rangat (Spill Over Work.)
3.Providing PVC coated GI wire mesh fencing around Automobile Workshop, Rangat. (Spill Over work).
4.Fabrication and erection of triangular lattice mast at various places of DFO (MA)’s Office, Rangat (Spill Over work).
5.Construction of toilet for Divisional Store Godown at Rangat (Spill Over work).
6.Construction of changing room with toilet and sitting space at Merk Bay, Long Island for VIP visit (Spill Over work).
7.Renovation of Mangrove Bench Walk at Yeratta, Rangat (Spill Over work)
8.Repairing, renovation & maintenance of various quarters under Non-Plan.

3.BAKULTALA RANGE
1. Construction of Beat Office cum Residence at Bakultala (Spill Over Work).
2. Renovation of kitchen and store at FRH, Bakultala (Spill Over Work).
3. Construction of check dam for laying of pipe line at Tika dera, Bakultala (Spill Over work).
4. Renovation of Truck Shed at Bakultala (Spill Over work).

4. BAJALUNGTA RANGE
1.Renovation of Labour Quarters No. SP/17/A,B & C at Shantunu, Kadamtala.
2.Fabrication and erection of triangular lattice mast under Bajalungta range.

5. LONG ISLAND RANGE
1. Renovation of B.B. Yard at Long Island
2. Renovation of staff quarters at Long Island under Non – Plan.

REFERENCES:

Document from Divisional Forest Office, Middle Andaman

MISCELLANEOUS WORKING CIRCLE

This working circle comprises of forest area diverted for non-forestry purposes under FCA, 1980 and having status of RF/ PF even after diversion, compensatory afforestation raised in non-forest area, area through which ATR is passing in RF/PF, isolated islands and plantations of various species being research plots.
During the year, all the compensatory afforestation sites raised in the past were fenced with locally available materials in order to protect it from grazing and from encroachments. Moreover, the forest area earlier diverted for the non-forestry purpose and having the status of RF/PF, were also given full protection from illegal elements. Appropriate display boards were also placed in all the compensatory afforestation sites raised in the past.

Moreover, during the year fruit bearing trees / shady plants were also planted along the roadsides, details of which are furnished below –

SI NO.	Particulars	Area	Expense
1	Road side / Avenue plantations along rural road were carried out under Bajalungta range	2 Km.	`2,67,737/-
2	Road side / Avenue plantations along rural road were carried out under Rangat range	1 Km.	1,00,000/-

ARTIFICIAL REGENERATION: GENERAL COMMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS ON SEED COLLECTION INCLUDING SEED PROCUREMENT AND STORAGE; NURSERY WORKS; METHOD OF PLANTING AND TENDING ETC. SUITABILITY OF TAUNGYA CROP ETC

Seeds are collected from the natural forest within the division according to the requirements, and the availability of seeds is sufficient to meet the demand of seeds for the nursery. Planting of seedlings are done by transplanting the seedlings raised in poly-bags in nurseries. Tending is done as per the approval in the Annual Plan of Operation.
Moreover, during the year, site/ temporary nurseries were also established in the Coupe areas to meet out the demand of seedlings for eco-restoration works and also to reduce the cost and difficulty in transportation of seedlings from the distant central nurseries.
There are five nurseries in the division at Swadesh Nagar, Parnashala, T.P.Camp, Boroinyol and mangrove nursery at Yerrata. These nurseries produce seedlings needed for various plantations and distribution to public. Commercial species, mangrove, avenue, fruit bearing, cane and bamboo species are raised in these Nurseries. Seedlings raised are planted out in the plantation and for free distribution among the general public.

The stock of seedlings of commercial, miscellaneous and fruit bearing species in various nurseries of this division as stood on 31.03.2015 is as follows –

SI NO.	Name of Nursery	Stock of seedlings as on 31.03.2015
SI NO.	Name of Nursery	In Poly Bags	In Non-Poly Bags
1	Swadeshnagar Nursery, Betapur range	7,956 Nos	0
2	Parnashala Nursery, Rangat range	17,523 Nos.	2,183 Nos.
3	Mangrove Nursery, Yeratta, Rangat range	0	0
4	T.P.Camp Nursery, Bakultala range	23,538 Nos.	0
4	Boroinyol Nursery, Bajalungta range	22,325 Nos.	0
GRAND TOTAL		71,342 Nos.	2,182 Nos.

BOUNDARIES: DEMARCATION, MAINTENANCE AND COST THEREOF ETC

This Division has undergone certain changes from its original territorial boundary due to carving out of a new Division viz. Baratang Forest Division comprising part of South Andaman Forest Division and part of Middle Andaman Forest Division. Now, it is situated between the latitudes 120 15’ and 120 50’ North and Longitudes 920 40’ and 930 50’ East. The northern boundary of the Division which has been demarcated on the ground and delineated in the toposheets published by Survey of India, starts from Cape Strachen in the East, follows the watershed and ends at Rocky point off Pilot Bay in the west. The Southern boundary is Homfray Strait, Elphinstone Harbour, Mills Passage and Andaman sea, the western boundary is the Bay of Bengal and Eastern boundary is the Andaman Sea.

Details of boundary clearance work done during the year 2014-15 is furnished below:

1.Survey and demarcation of forest boundary was carried out for 50 Km with an expenditure of Rs. 3,54,783/-
2.Base concreting of forest boundary pillars was carried out for 600 Nos. with an expenditure of Rs. 6,50,521/-

REFERENCES:

Document from Divisional Forest Office, Middle Andaman

Other Activities